


Grace Kelly's Ring Collection

by the_thief



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Action/Adventure, Falling In Love, Jigen PoV, Life talks, M/M, Obligatory Beach Episode, Sappy, There's swearing, slowly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-05 12:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15171104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_thief/pseuds/the_thief
Summary: After pulling over for some fun at the beach, Jigen realizes his feelings for Lupin may surpass friendship. Now, Lupin is after a ring collection that is in the hands of a powerful European family, and the gang's success hinges on Jigen infiltrating Castle Emberhart, disguised as the oldest daughter's fiance. Throw in a crooked cop with a thing for framing thieves, a vinyl record for lovers and an opal ring and Lupin's got himself some real trouble.





	1. A Stop At The Beach

**Author's Note:**

> I'm new please bear with me I love these boys (and fujiko). also sorry but i'll be editing and re-editing the title and summary for a bit till i stick with something im happy with.

The rough-looking, yellow car sped along the dirt trail it had been bouncing along for the greater part of the afternoon, with the same haste as criminals are expected to drive at. In fact, to say they were driving on the road would be wrong, as the speed they were going at placed the car above the road, only tapping at the gravel occasionally as a reminder of gravity. A large cloud of dust dragged across the landscape from behind it and into the dry summer air, hanging briefly before disappearing and resettling onto the earth.

From the front passenger window you would have thought it was a getaway train as thin trails of smoke stretched from the window and into the open air of the countryside. Before a particularly vicious bump at the road, the source of the smoke bent to extinguish his cigarette in the almost-full ashtray nearby to him only to knock his head against the ceiling of the car with a loud “thump” from both his head as well as the car hitting the road again.

“Goddamnit, can you slow down? We lost the old man an hour ago,” the smoker yelled to the driver.

“Hey, if you didn’t want to hit your head you should’ve worn your seat belt,” the driver grinned sarcastically back at him. Sarcastically because-

“You know this car doesn’t have seat belts anymore.”

The driver flashed his partner a large grin as a way to express “I heard what you said” as well as “I don’t care” all the while ignoring the smoker as he loosened his pressure on the accelerator, just a bit. The smoker crossed his long legs as the car rattled on once more, albeit only slightly slower than it had before he’d opened his mouth. As he bent his left leg across his right he found that the seat was once again too close to the windshield to allow for comfortable seating. Maybe not too close to the windshield, but rather that the car was too small for a man of his height either way. Slouching would do him no good in this scenario so he opted to stretch his legs out his rolled down window.

“And another thing, why do we bother with this shitty old car? It’s uncomfortable as hell to sit in and it can barely stay together-” he started, but was quickly interrupted.

“It’s not my fault that you’re taller than most people, Jigen,” retorted the driver.

Frankly, he wasn’t that tall. He was only just under 6 ft tall, but to say his waist sat higher than most would be a more accurate statement. Jigen pulled his pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket to help distract from this sickness inducing car ride but another bump in the road caused him to drop the carton onto the floor and at that he was fed up. Jigen awkwardly tucked his legs back into the car and moved to pull his gun.

“Lupin slow the car down or I swear-”

“Or you’ll shoot me, yeah, yeah,” Lupin hummed, “If Pops is out of sight then I guess we can cruise for a little while.”

Jigen sighed a breath of relief and rolled back onto the seat and placed his legs back out the window, after he’d retrieved his carton from the floor. The new pace was refreshing, the breeze only just pushing at the cuff of Jigen’s pant legs. Even the sound was different with the roar of the engine quieted. Without looking out the window, Jigen could hear the quiet waves of a nearby body of water and even some music playing from a passing cottage.

“We must be in a tourist town,” Lupin decided, “It’s peaceful but I bet the old-timers around here get pissed off from all the foot traffic.

Jigen sat up further to catch a glimpse of the passing scenery and narrowing missed kicking a couple walking alongside the road with a beach ball. He took in the sight of the bright and blazing sun on a strip of white sand and scattered umbrellas and the clear blue water lapping at the shore.

“Shit,” Jigen slipped.

“You wanna’ stop?” Lupin suggested.

“Stop? I thought the safe house wasn’t for another mile-”

“No, I mean like stop here and screw around a bit. I haven’t been to the beach in years.”

Jigen was surprised at the suggestion and kept looking at Lupin waiting for him the burst out laughing or to at least say “Just kidding!” but the joke didn’t come. Lupin stared at Jigen who was now facing him, looking straight into his eyes. Jigen felt stifled by this and peeled his vision off Lupin and back to the seascape. He cleared his throat but spoke quiet.

“If you want to I want to.”

“God, you don’t even sound excited,” Lupin laughed, turning suddenly down a thin but paved path that lead toward the beach. Despite the dozen or so people they had seen walking down to the beach, there was very little vehicle traffic which made for very easy parking, though Lupin parked on the sand nonetheless.

“If you get it stuck here I’m not helping you push it out,” Jigen stated bluntly.

Lupin laughed again but it trailed off as he examined the tires to see how far into the sand they had sunk. He suddenly switched back to peeling off his jacket and loosening his tie, suggesting that he had determined it would be fine. Probably. Jigen took off his jacket and his shoes as well as his socks and threw them into the car. Using the car for leverage, he brought his foot up to the seat and rolled the cuff of his pants, first his left then his right. He began to pull at his tie but figured in the heat it wouldn’t make much difference whether he wore it or not. At that he turned to see Lupin who had already stripped down to an undershirt and was gripping at the zipper of his pants when Jigen finally spoke up.

“I don’t think they let weird men wear their underwear to the beach here. I’m only saying that for when the police come and I pretend I don’t know you.”

“Oh right.”

Lupin crawled into the backseat as if looking for something and returned to the sand with a pair of long but comfortable looking shorts that were bright orange with a teal stripe up the side. Lupin held them up to Jigen like a child showing a kindergarten craft.

“They’re hideous,” said Jigen, “Why do you even have those?”

“I grabbed it from somewhere to use as a disguise later,” Lupin told him, “But the orange is really too noticeable for a disguise isn’t it?”

Jigen nodded at the vague story and accepted that he didn’t really care where they came from anyway. Lupin crawled back into the car to get changed and Jigen looked toward the horizon, where the sky met the shining water and brought a calm breeze to accompany the sound of scattered conversations and strangers swimming against the waves. He reached for his cigarettes and distracted himself from the scene before him as it dawned on him the cigarettes were in his coat pocket, which in turn was in the car with Lupin. Instead, he ran his fingers along the brim of his hat which just barely blocked the sun from his eyes. Whatever he thought, I guess I don’t need a cigarette with a view like this.

With that, Lupin opened the car door and stepped out wearing the gaudy, orange shorts. He looked foolish, but Jigen knew Lupin didn’t care about his appearance when he was around him. To the world he was a notorious criminal - the world’s greatest thief - but to Jigen he was just a weird guy in some ugly shorts at the beach. Jigen knew this, but never outwardly appreciated the trust Lupin had in him. It occurred to him that the pair had been standing in silence for a few odd seconds, as Lupin waited for Jigen to say something.

“They’re still hideous.”

Lupin’s faced relaxed and Jigen felt a weight lifted off him that he hadn’t realized was on him in the first place. Looking back, today had been stressful. Robbing banks was normally a cinch, but Pops added triple the security and their third partner, Goemon, had been spotted by one of said security and had to make a quick escape. They were also forced to hand the money over to Fujiko and act as bait to Pops all the while sitting in a pointless car chase for a little over an hour and a half. Jigen’s shoulders tightened at the thought of the car ride again but relaxed as Lupin began the walk towards the water. Jigen stepped towards the water's edge and dipped both feet in eagerly, the cold water relaxing the feeling of his feet in the burning sand. Lupin felt the same, letting out a loud sigh of relief and stretching his arms above his head.

“Ah this feels even better than I thought it would...It’s a shame its a billion goddamn degrees out,” Lupin breathed out, fanning himself towards the end of the sentence.

Suddenly, Lupin gave Jigen an odd look. A loud mix of shock and terror was presented on his face. Jigen looked around to see what imminent danger Lupin had spotted before him but couldn’t find anything wrong. Jigen slowly looked back, considering that maybe the situation was more complicated, or that Lupin was trying to signal something to him. Lupin took a step closer to Jigen, pushing his leg through the ankle deep water, this time only saying,

“What the hell?”

Jigen was only further confused and finally blurted out that he had no idea what was going on and if Lupin could just please tell him if he was about to be assassinated or something then that would be great-

“Why are you still wearing your tie?”

Although relieved that death was not breathing down his back, Jigen’s shoulders rose in anger toward his partner who just scared 4 years off his life.

“Are you kidding me!?” Jigen belted, “You just scared the shit out of me to talk about my tie!?”

“I can’t look at you wearing a tie in this heat, it’s actually killing me I think. Take it off,” Lupin insisted.

“Fuck off,” Jigen replied.

Despite being the supposed fastest marksman in the world, Jigen was not prepared for Lupin grabbing him by the tie and pulling him in, closing the distance between the two. Lupin reached toward his neck and pushed the collar of Jigen’s shirt up slightly so as to grasp the fabric of the tie that was usually hidden. He then pulled at the knot to loosen it, and pulled down slightly to widen the neck.

Jigen was surprised at this sudden contact from his friend. He was about to push him away, but the light touch at his neck made his heartbeat change suddenly. It beated faster, not unlike a few moments ago when he thought his life was in danger, yet different in the feeling it stirred. As Lupin lifted the necktie off him, and proudly twirled it on the end of his finger, Jigen simultaneously felt relieved that the moment had passed yet partly wondered how long that the moment had lasted anyway. It felt like forever yet passed so quickly.

He shook his head and accepted that he wasn’t wearing his tie anymore. “Since you took it off you can go throw it in the car,” Jigen told him, weakly trying to hide the confusing thoughts running through his head. He didn’t expect Lupin to happily agree, nor did he expect him to suddenly snatch the hat off the top of his head and run towards the car with it.

“Hey! Not my hat!" Jigen yelled, running after him, " Lupin, get back here!”


	2. Four's a Crowd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll probably have to come back and edit this one for spelling mistakes haha i wrote this chapter from my phone

As the afternoon stretched on, the sun lowered and turned to a deep orange, yet brought cooler air to the shore. The beach had cleared out, only leaving the pair and a small party of teenagers on the opposite end of the beach. Jigen could just see the start of a wood pile and the lighting of fire, but he could not see their expressions or even hear their voices. The beach held a solemn quiet that was welcomed after a busy day. Jigen looked towards his partner, returning from the water finally and sitting down next to him. He looked at the water dangling from the strands of Lupin’s hair which dripped onto the beach and gathered small bundles of sand before quickly drying out.

“Finally too cold for you?” Jigen asked, already knowing the answer.

“I feel like a kid in denial. I could stay here all day but the water is killing me now.”

A smile pulled at the corner of Jigen’s lips and he scratched at the scruff of his neck and then at his jaw to distract from his need to laugh. He failed and a laugh broke out of his mouth, which brought a glare from his friend. Jigen stretched himself out on the sand as the last of his laugh faded out, and pulled his arms behind his head to rest on.

“What’s so funny?” Lupin demanded, looking down at Jigen.

“Nothing…” he tried, but the look Lupin was giving him was too much, “You just sound like an old man when you talk like that.” He promptly got a smack to the stomach which made him curl and hold his stomach in pain, continuing his mocking laughter. Jigen’s cheek was pressed to the grainy sand and, looking up towards the now vertical horizon, he could finally see the fire from the party on the other side of the beach. He stared at it and waited for Lupin’s next attack but nothing came. Finally he flipped over to see if he had genuinely hurt his feelings, but was met with a warm look from Lupin.

Jigen wasn’t comfortable with eye contact, which was part of why he wore his signature hat almost every single day. He hadn’t retrieved the hat from the car since earlier when Lupin grabbed it from him, so there was no easy escape from this particular situation. He awkwardly looked up and away from Lupin, pretending he didn’t notice Lupin’s eyes looking directly at him. His eyes darted from faint star to faint star, now realizing the sun was very close to setting. He sat up to watch it and figured he should mumble something to keep the conversation going.

“I could use a cigarette right now.”

 _You’re a fucking idiot_ he thought to himself. Lupin didn’t respond, but Jigen noticed from the corner of his eye that Lupin had turned to watch the sunset as well. As the sun dipped below the horizon, Jigen also couldn’t help but notice the smile stretched across his friend’s face. The last glow of the sun left and what remained was the cover of night only illuminated by the moon and millions of stars. Jigen laid down once more.

He wondered to himself why he was so aware of his surroundings more so than ever. As a gunman it was usually his job to be awake and aware almost constantly, but this observation was much more relaxing. It was like he had never noticed the stars or the sun or the sea before, but he knew he had experienced this all before, just not quite the same way. Yet it was as Lupin said, it had been years since they’d been to the beach (or anywhere for that matter) and it wasn’t for business or survival. He let out a loud yawn and acknowledged that Lupin was now laying beside him, hands folded onto his stomach staring up at the stars. Jigen couldn’t stand it anymore.

“If you have something you want to say then say it.”

“Huh?” Lupin said, slowly trailing off, “Oh, I was just thinking…”

“Thinking what?”

“You only really laugh like that around me.”

Jigen was about to deny it. He looked for excuses in his head. _I laugh around everyone_ , but that wasn’t true. _Don’t think too much about it_ , but why not? Jigen hadn’t noticed it until Lupin said it that he was right. If Goemon or Fujiko made him laugh it was still either restrained or forced. There was a perfect balance between him and Lupin that he didn’t think about, yet always acted on without realizing it.

“I just mean, when you laugh around me, I can tell if it’s real because it makes me want to laugh too,” Lupin smiled, “Don’tcha think?”

Jigen was thinking of a good response in his head but the words weren’t coming out. He couldn’t understand why something like this seemed to… freeze him? As if his head stopped thinking coherent thoughts and his throat couldn’t produce a voice and his mouth wouldn’t shape any words. The tension from his shoulders stretched down toward his wrists and finally lifted him from the sand and onto his feet. Lupin watched him with concern in his eyes.

“Did I say something wrong? Where’re you going?”

“Huh? No, it’s not…” Jigen looked out and away from Lupin toward the ocean, barely visible in the night, “I’m just getting my cigarettes from the car, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Lupin nodded slowly, but cocked his head as Jigen strided back to the Fiat, confused and sure he had said something strange.

Jigen rested his elbows on the hood of the car for a moment and ran his hands through his hair, only looking back in a fraudulently casual way to see if Lupin was still watching. He was not, as far as he could see, just simply laying on his back and watching the stars once more. Jigen sighed and reached for the handle of the door finally, pulling the door open and searching the dark car for his jacket. The search was easy enough, considering his jacket was the only thing in the backseat aside from Lupin’s clothes and- oh right. Jigen grabbed his hat from the seat and sat it back on his head, tilted slightly forward where it fit the most comfortably. He didn’t know what he was going to say to Lupin when he went back, and tossed the thought around in his head as he lit his cigarette. He leaned further forward into the car till he was resting his elbows on the backseat. If not a response, then at least something to say that’ll change the topic. It wasn’t that he didn’t agree with Lupin, but personal conversation wasn’t his forte, and he wanted to avoid making things awkward at all cost.

He turned his silver lighter over in his hand, holding it up to what little light was still shining into the car, and as his vision focused and re-focused he couldn’t help but notice a figure staring at him through the opposite window. As he reflexively jumped back, hitting his head on the roof of the car, he cursed loudly as he recognized the figure.

“F-Fujiko!?” he shouted, “What the fuck are you trying to do!?”

Fujiko laughed and popped her head just above the car to look at Jigen’s face twisted with pain and shock.

“Didn’t we plan to meet up? Or did you want me to take the treasure this time?”

Jigen stared at her coldly as she moved her way around the car, leaning against the Fiat with her arms crossed and an almost evil smile on her face. Her hair was long and auburn, almost orange, and her eyes were a deep, beautiful brown. She was wearing her usual biking outfit, a long plastic-looking leather bodysuit, which no doubt meant her motorbike was parked nearby.

“I didn’t hear you pull in,” Jigen mumbled, adjusting the cigarette in his mouth.

“Right? The bike got a few adjustments and now its silent as a mouse,” she bragged, “Well, almost. Goemon managed to find me.”

She looked out toward where Lupin had previously been sitting alone, but was now sitting upright talking excitedly to the well postured man sitting next to him, Goemon Ishikawa. Goemon took no pride in being younger than Jigen or Lupin and put every bit of effort into making himself look older, but his round face and pinkish cheeks always gave his age away. He dressed very traditionally, as per his lifestyle as a samurai in training, and even his manner of speech was very formal and polite not unlike an older man. Yet it was small breaks in his character, a popular song he knew all the words to or a pretty girl he was too nervous to talk to, that made it obvious he was part of a newer generation whether he liked it or not.

“The gang's all here then?” Jigen proposed, with more disappointment in his voice than he intended.

“Yep. The money is tucked away, safe and sound, and Pops is looking for a light in the dark by now.”

“How he hasn’t been fired after all these years I’ll never know,” Jigen responded, bringing his cigarette pack out once more and passing it to Fujiko, who gladly accepted.

“Hey, when are they ever going to find another man crazy enough to chase Lupin to his grave?”

“True enough.”

By the time Jigen looked back toward his friends on the beach they were already approaching the car. He felt his heart jump again at the sight, but did his best to ignore it. His hair was still damp from the dip he took earlier, but his broad shoulders showed no evidence of the beach aside from the small grains of sand across his chest like freckles and tbe gaudy orange swim shorts. Jigen swallowed hard. Abruptly, Lupin’s arm was slung around his shoulder while his other arm reached for the pack of cigarettes. Guess these are for everyone now, Jigen laughed to himself.

It seemed like all at once they were all sitting around the car, radio blaring, talking and laughing as if they hadn’t just wrapped up a bank robbery, but not unlike the teenagers across the beach who were now well into their party, drinking and audibly louder. They were sitting in an almost-circle, Jigen sitting next to Goemon and across from Lupin and Fujiko, all but Goemon smoking.

“I don’t understand people who can smoke every day of their lives. It leaves something to be desired,” Goemon complained, although rightfully.

“Alright, alright, alright,” Fujiko repeated, butting out her cigarette, “Next time I’m out I’ll buy you some candy cigs you big baby.”

Goemon flushed pink and Lupin burst out laughing accompanying Fujiko, whose covered her mouth with the back of her hand like some sort of old cartoon villain. Jigen contained his laughter, though he found Goemon’s reaction funnier than the joke. It was in that moment he looked toward Lupin, head tilted back to project his contagious laugh that he realized something very bleak. _I only laugh like that around him_ , he thought, _but Lupin laughs like that around everyone_. The ash sitting at the end of his cigarette wavered and fell onto the beach without a sound.

He pulled the cigarette from his lips and twisted it out onto the sand. Once he was on his feet he was thinking of an excuse to leave, but only managed, “Going for a walk” before anyone asked or even realized he was standing. However, Goemon was quick to his feet and followed suit.

“I’ll go with you,” he said in his low voice, “I need to stretch my legs.”

“Hey you guys should see if there’s a convenience store nearby that sells booze,” Lupin shouted after them, “A cigarette party ain’t much of a party!”

Jigen waved his hand over his shoulder, not looking toward him but still wanting Lupin to know he heard him. Turning around would mean seeing Lupin just as happy if not more from being left alone with Fujiko, and strangely enough that thought alone made Jigen’s heart hurt more than he wanted to admit.


	3. Convenience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot of dialog in this one. I tried to keep it casual since the last chapter was kinda of sad, haha

The hike to the nearest road, the one that he and Lupin had been cruising on prior to their beach visit, was short and not burdened by much conversation. Goemon was a quiet man and Jigen was more of a _speak-when-spoken-to_ guy. The obvious exception being those who tried to silence them, in which case they shared more than enough unkind but appropriate words. They could both appreciate this comfortable silence however, and would often spend their time together during odd times of insecurity. It was bad enough to be burdened with worry and even worse to be alone.

 

The first store they came upon had a worn out lightbox sign, the letters being scratched and faded and the light shining brightly, illuminating these dead details. It flickered occasionally, yet bore enough proof of life to know the store was open. He could squint and see the faint hint of a “24/7” in curly writing just below the name of the store, which at this point was only an “E” and an “N” with a considerable amount of space between. Fifty years ago it probably said “convenience store open 24/7” but now it was simply “    E N 24/7”.

 

A old bell rang out a tinny note as the pair pushed the stiff glass door open. There was rust on the handle, no doubt from the years of sea salt in the air, which made the building look even less sturdy. Jigen made his way toward the back where he could see small, overpriced cases of cheap beer in a foggy looking fridge while Goemon perused a section nearby. When he approached the counter, he placed the case down to be scanned and requested another pack of cigarettes from the wall behind the cashier, an elderly Japanese woman whose face seemed to wrinkle into a smile.

 

“Oh, right. You need ID from me don’t you?”

 

“Don’t worry about it dear, I’ll let it slide this time,” she spoke politely.

 

Jigen nodded and heard Goemon approach from behind him and place his items on the counter alongside his. On the walk over, he offered to pay for Goemon’s things on account of the stolen bills being the only cash he had on him. They’d learned more than enough times that it was best to let the money at least lay low for a while till they used it, else be tracked by Zenigata like a kid following a trail of candy.

 

The old woman gave him his total and Jigen handed over the money. As he waited for change he finally looked down at what Goemon, or rather he, bought.

 

“Banana milk?”

 

“Shh.”

 

“And...pocky?”

 

“I said shh.”

 

Jigen shrugged his shoulders, not entirely disturbed but slightly confused as his choice of food. The woman handed him his change and a bag for Goemon’s things and wished them a good night. Upon exiting the store, Goemon dug around in the plastic bag for the vibrant red box, designed with strawberries and bubble letters, and placed it in his sleeve, then held the banana milk bottle in his hand.

 

“If you don’t mind,” Goemon asked, “Could you wait for me to drink this?”

 

“Don’t wanna be made fun of, huh?”

 

“I don’t see why I should be ashamed of liking something like this,” he said, uncapping the bottle and taking a large sip, “There’s nothing wrong with banana milk.”

 

Jigen laughed and sat on the curb with Goemon as he innocently chugged a drink for children.

 

“Give me a pocky stick and your secret will die with me,” Jigen joked, holding out his hand.

 

Goemon opened the packaged and slid one into his hand, and then one for himself.

 

“They’re good, right?”

 

“I’ve actually never had one before.”

 

“Really!?” Goemon blurted out, but quickly repeated himself in his usual monotone voice, “Er… That’s surprising.”

 

“They didn’t have pocky in the states. Not when I was a kid anyway,” Jigen told Goemon, who was now looking at him like he was telling a fairytale, “You’re right though, these are good. Gimme another one.”

 

Goemon passed him another before sliding the pack back into his sleeve for safekeeping and finishing off the rest of his milk. He tossed the empty bottle into a nearby bin and the two got ready to return. In dimmer lights, Jigen realized Goemon looked closer to his age, as the shadow beneath his brow made him look more intimidating. Well, intimidating to someone who didn’t just watch him empty a bottle of banana milk like a frat boy would to party kegs, he figured.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

“Huh?” Jigen didn’t realize he was staring, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

“Good. You had me worried when you suddenly stood up to leave back at the beach.”

 

“Oh?” Jigen pretended not to know what he meant, but could tell from Goemon’s cold stare that he could see right through him. Jigen refused to acknowledge this, and instead picked up the case of beer and headed back for the road. They began down the trail again and back to the beach, stopping occasionally so Jigen could get the feeling back in his fingers after carrying the beer case by the uncomfortable cardboard handles. Goemon was not subtle in the concerned look he was giving Jigen. He was getting sick of being given such a pitiful look.

 

“You can stare at me til your eyes get tired,” Jigen mocked, “There’s nothing wrong and even if there was, it’s none of your business.”

 

“Does this have to do with me and Fujiko showing up?”

 

“What are you talking about?” Jigen responded, annoyed.

 

“Well,” Goemon started, “We were supposed to meet up with you two further down, in the next town over. But Fujiko’s tracker found you guys here instead.”

 

“So?”

 

“So why did you guys pull over?”

 

Jigen sighed and heeved the case toward his chest again. He didn’t want to respond at the risk of either saying something embarrassing or snowballing the conversation into an argument.

 

“Just… for fun?” Goemon questioned.

 

“Is there something wrong with that?”

 

“No,” Goemon interjected, “But it concerns me when Fujiko and I arriving stops that. We’re both your friends too.”

 

“Right.”

 

“But you looked disappointed when you saw me and Fujiko.”

 

“That wasn’t…” Jigen paused, “ _That_ wasn’t because of you guys.”

 

Goemon’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

 

“You had a fight with Lupin?”

 

“Kind of,” he lied, “But I think it’ll resolve itself if we leave it alone. Just don't worry about it, I'm not mad at you or Fujiko. If anything, you helped me just by showing up.”

 

Goemon nodded, as if understanding the bold face lie Jigen just told him. Of course he wasn’t about to tell Goemon he was trying figure out how he felt about Lupin. Goemon was terrible at keeping secrets and even worse at handling things that involved, well, feelings. Jigen wasn’t any better though, so he could neither blame him or throw stones. If anything, he wanted to avoid anyone that would tell him something he only _wanted_ to hear, or someone who would tell him the unfortunate truth. That if he did have feelings for Lupin, they were most likely unreciprocated. _I’m probably just imagining things anyway,_ Jigen thought, _If I was in love with him I would’ve realized it a long time ago._

 

Afterall, the duo had been on countless missions and through never ending obstacles. It was normal to trust a friend like he trusted Lupin, and normal to be happy with a friend like he was around Lupin. Granted, he never felt these feelings as strongly about anyone before he met Lupin, but his friends before he met Lupin were hardly prime examples. Maybe this was how you were always _supposed_ to feel around friends, and this was all normal. _But then again, maybe it’s not._ Jigen shook his head.

 

The trees surrounding them on the dirt trail were beginning to become sparse as they approached the area where Lupin and Fujiko were waiting. The sound of a classic coming from the radio of the Fiat grew louder and louder as they got closer. Jigen had been staring at the top of the case of beer since he and Goemon had stopped talking and only brought himself to look up when he could hear the voices of his friends with more clarity.

 

“Heyo! Welcome back!” Lupin called.

 

Jigen felt it again. That warm feeling in his chest that he was trying to ignore. At some point while they were gone, Fujiko and Lupin had gotten changed. Lupin was back in his suit and Fujiko was now wearing a mauve sleeveless turtleneck tucked into a beige mini-skirt with black buttons up the side, paired with short heels that matched her top. She also had her hair up in a messy bun.

 

“Is that my hair tie?” Jigen noticed.

 

“I found it in the car,” Fujiko confessed, “So probably. But you never use it anyway.”

 

Jigen let it slide this once and opened the case to finally grab a beer. He needed something to clear his head, even for a night. Everyone crowded to grab their own and the night continued on, with loud music and the clicking of cans, empty and otherwise, with laughter and poor singing, and most importantly without cops breathing down their necks.

 

Eventually, Fujiko stood to leave and Goemon tottered to his feet. Fujiko was anything but lightweight when it came to alcohol, which was less than Goemon could say, and she decided to leave with him while he could still walk. Jigen and Lupin approached the Fiat, turning down the volume and doing rock, paper, scissors to decide who would drive home. Neither of them were plastered and neither of them wanted to drive, but Jigen lost in best two out of three and caught the keys Lupin tossed to him, smiling triumphantly.

 

Lupin sat in the passenger seat and crossed his legs to fit more comfortably in the small car. Jigen twisted the keys in the ignition and the car sprang to life, and slowly pulled back onto the road that would lead them to the hideout. Jigen could see from the corner of his eye Lupin resting against the window, drifting to sleep.

 

“Lupin?”

 

“Mm?”

 

“About what you said earlier…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Jigen breathed deeply and tried his best to be nonchalant. Lupin hadn’t opened his eyes yet and the passing orange light from the street lamp caught his face occasionally as a sign of how late at night it really was.

 

“You’re right,” he mumbled, “You’re the only friend I act that relaxed around.”

 

The worlds didn’t feel right as they left his mouth, and this feeling marked the beginning of Jigen thinking and rethinking in his head what he thought it meant to be a friend. Lupin smiled sweetly and reached his arm back to lightly nudge Jigen’s shoulder.

 

“I’m always right.”


	4. Dressed to the Nines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the weird updating. i was on a 18 hour car ride and i had a lot of free time and not a lot of wifi.

It wasn’t even a few weeks till they were on their next mission. Lupin was driving the two of them out to the country side to take a look at their newest target. The view thus far had been long stretches of forest with the occassional house dotting the landscape, but for the most part, a whole lot of nothing. Jigen’s eyes kept darting back to Lupin, who had one hand hanging out of the window and the other at 12 o’clock on the wheel of the Fiat. He had this calm aura about him that must’ve been contagious, because Jigen couldn’t bring himself to look away for too long without yearning for that feeling of relaxation he got from just watchinf him drive for hours.

 

“Is there even anyone to steal from out here?” he asked, noticing Lupin’s eye catch his.

 

“You’ll know it when you see it, don’t worry.”

 

Jigen looked out across the rolling landscape and dozed off every few minutes only to be woken up by rough patches in the road shaking him awake. It was about the third or fourth time that he finally sat up straighter and spotted a large stone building on the horizon surrounded by smaller brick houses that paled in comparison. Even the moss growing along the sides of the castle seemed to grow in a fantastic pattern that spoke unbelievable beauty. Wonderfully colourful gardens decorated the yard which was surrounded by a curled metal fence that seem to imprison and choke the otherwise natural aesthetic.

 

“Is that…?”

 

“Yep,” Lupin interupted, “That’s our target.”

 

“What’s the story on it?”

 

“Glad you asked,” he smiled, “As a matter of fact, its the home of a rich and powerful family, the Emberharts, who run an underground pouching business and make their money trading rare and exotic animal furs for the best loot in the world.”

 

“You’re gonna break in their for some stupid rugs?”

 

“Of course not. _We_ are breaking in to get their loot. I heard from good sources they have a ring collection that once belonged to a queen of Monaco.”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Dunnno,” Lupin admitted, laughing a little, “But I’m fine with any of the queen’s collections.”

 

“So how are you getting in?”

 

Lupin seem to choke slightly at the question and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

 

“Well, you see,” he started, “Their daughter, Amelia, is in an arranged marriage with some high status Japanese man she’s never met before.”

 

“Ah. So you’re going to sneak in, pretend to be the husband, wait for her to tell you where the treasure is hidden and then make off with it?”

 

“Yeah see I _was_ going to do that but,” Lupin laughed in a forced way, “I’m not Japanese.”

 

“Right.”

 

“But _you_ are.”

 

“Right…”

 

Lupin stared at Jigen with a pleading look on his face for a few moments before Jigen understood what he was hinting at. He could feel his face sink and his expression must’ve shown his disagreement to the plan, because Lupin began stammering at the sight.

 

“No way, Lupin,” he stated plainly, looking out the window.

 

“Come on, Jigen! Just do me a favour this one time! If we can find that treasure that’s an easy billion in our hands!”

 

“Isn’t this why we have masks?”

 

“The glue on the masks only lasts a maximum of a day and a half. In an ideal world that’d be plenty of time but Amelia might not be too keen on telling a stranger where they hide the family jewels. So will you do it?”

 

“Forget it. Get Goemon to do it, he’s Japanese too y’know.”

 

“His english isn’t as good as yours! Not to mention he’s terrible at talking to women, he’d ruin the plan before it even started…”

 

“Yeah and I’m _great_ with women,” he replied sarcastically and more annoyed.

 

“Jigen, if you do this for me I’ll do whatever you want!”

 

“Are you a kid? Where’d that come from?”

 

Lupin’s face didn’t waver and he stared at him intensely. He was dead serious about getting this collection, for whatever reason, and he didn’t care about what he had to do to get it. Jigen sighed and gave in to Lupin’s demands.

 

“Just don’t forget your promise,” he grumbled, “What do I have to do?”

 

“I’ll give you everything we know about this guy she’s marrying and at 7 o’clock tomorrow evening, me, Fujiko and Goemon will intercept his carriage and switch him out with you. Easy peasy!” Lupin beamed at him.

 

By the time they returned to the hideout, Fujiko was already preparing Jigen’s disguise and Goemon was gathering their documents on Amelia’s fiance. His name was Yamada Kirosuke, he was about 30 years old and working as part of a corporation with close ties to the yakuza, but he wasn’t directly involved with any of the gangs, luckily.

 

“Why is that lucky? I was apart of the mafia in New York it can’t be that different.”

 

“Yes, but if the family were to ask him, or you rather, for information about anything to do with the yakuza, you’d be compromised. Your experience being in the mafia will get you by for basic things, but if they ask you something only Yamada Kirosuke knows as a member of the yakuza-”

 

“You’d be fucked.”

 

“Thank you, Fujiko….” Goemon finished.

 

“Fair enough…” Jigen responded.

 

At that, Fujiko pushed Goemon away to show Jigen her handiwork. It was a stunning three-piece suit with gold thread detailing along the collar and cuffs of the jacket paired with high resting dress pants that came with a black belt adorned with a gold buckle.

 

“Holy shit,” Jigen stared at it in awe and it wasn’t even on his body yet.

 

“Right!?” Fujiko held it up excitedly, “I stole this off of an old boyfriend I had who was obsessed with runway fashion. He’d buy everything from the shows and then put it on some mannequin in his mansion and just let it sit there. I mean, literally not ever even wear it!”

 

“Unbelievable,” Jigen muttered, genuinely interested but sounding as if he was ignoring her.

 

“Well, anyway, I guess I can’t complain considering his wardrobe is now _my_ wardrobe,” she laughed, “I did have to get the suit adjusted for you ‘cause it was a little big but-”

 

“How do you know my measurements?”

 

“Do I ask you this many questions? Try the damn suit on,” she demanded, leaving the room so he could get changed.

 

And try on the suit he did, and he hadn’t worn anything this flagrantly expensive in a long, long time. As he focused his vision on his reflection in the mirror, he didn’t notice Lupin enter the room until he was behind him.

 

“Bring back any memories?” Lupin prodded.

 

“They never had me wearing gold at any of the shoots,” Jigen laughed, “But yeah. The least I can say about New York is that they knew how to dress a model.”

 

“Do you ever miss it?”

 

Lupins hands were around Jigen’s shoulders in a semi-hug, with his head rested on his shoulder looking at Jigen in the mirror. Jigen felt a rush up his spine but brushed it off as the usual embarrassment he got whenever anyone brought up his life as a model. Hell, it was a while after he joined Lupin as a gunman that they could do missions in New York and not have people recognize him in the streets. Enough years had gone by at this point that that secret was between him, Lupin, and his sister who was still in the business. Everyone else had long forgotten his name, and his face was out of print.

 

“That was, what, fifteen years ago now? I wasn’t old enough to drink yet so no I don’t miss it,” he joked.

 

“Oh come on you had to have been at least twenty-one.”

 

“No, I started when I was eighteen and I partnered up with you when I was...twenty-two?” Jigen guessed.

 

“Ugh, don’t say that it makes me feel old.”

 

“I’m only a year older than you, jackass.”

 

Lupin rested his forehead on Jigen’s shoulder and laughed loudly from his stomach. Jigen restrained himself knowing Fujiko and Goemon were one room over, and would definitely ask what they were laughing about if they heard them. He was fine with Lupin being the only person in the gang who knew about his modelling career, though he knew for a fact Fujiko already knew about his sister.

 

“You ready for the big day tomorrow Mr. Kirosuke?”

 

“Mr. Yamada.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Yamada is a family name, just like Mine, Ishikawa, Jigen-”

 

“Oh right. Sorry I forgot, Daisuke.”

 

“Don’t.”

 

Lupin laughed once more, letting go of Jigen, and walking toward the door. Jigen could feel the warmth from Lupin’s hands leaving his shoulders and couldn’t help but wish he’d stayed a little longer. The door shut and Jigen was once again alone and looking at himself, dressed as some stranger’s fiancee, waiting to play the role of a man he’d never met before in front of a woman who wouldn’t know any better. _It’s sort of cruel when you think of it like that._

 

Once he was changed he went back out to the living room, which had all of its garbage shoved to the side and away from Lupin’s “thinking space” (the coffee table) and they were all crowded around maps and notes and photos that Jigen had to memorize before tomorrow. The ice in the rye and coke Fujiko had poured for him was clinking and bobbing in the silent room. It wasn’t long until Jigen finally said what everyone was thinking.

 

“I can’t remember all of this for tomorrow.”

 

“Sure you can! Believe in yourse-”

 

“Lupin, he can’t do it,” Goemon and Fujiko agreed, shooting Lupin down.

 

“There’s gotta be something you can do, like give me a notebook with all this shit in it that I can carry or-”

 

“Oooor,” Lupin interrupted, “How about a servant who happened to memorize all this garbage last week before he realized he couldn’t disguise himself as the fiancee?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’ll go with you and pose as a servant! That way if you draw a blank I can fill you in! Or cause a distraction in case they ask something neither of us know,” Lupin declared excitedly, as if making some brilliant discovery.

 

“That’s actually… a really good idea,” Fujiko hated to admit, “That Kirosuke guy probably would have a servant or two with him anyway.”

 

“And if you need backup, Fujiko and I can enter seamlessly to assist you,” Goemon suggested.

 

Everything was coming together smoothly from that point forward, and as much as Jigen wanted to show Lupin he was a terrible person to pick for this mission, there was actually very little that could go wrong at this point. Infiltration missions were usually fairly risky, but the fact that the family didn’t know what he looked like gave them a huge advantage. And so, at exactly 7 o’clock, they intercepted Yamada Kirosuke’s carriage with relative ease and Jigen was on his way to the castle, with Lupin sitting across from him, Goemon at the reigns, and Fujiko on standby, guarding the _real_ Yamada Kirosuke. Jigen was fidgeting his gloved hands on his lap and looking out of the window to try and distract himself. The rolling hills were just as they were yesterday when he drove by with Lupin, misty and haloed in the morning light, but his stomach was in knots. He felt something touch his knee and turned his head to see Lupin leaning forward and give him a comforting look. Jigen felt a different tension than the anxiety from this mission.

 

“Don’t worry so much,” Lupin whispered, “You’ve done this a million times before.”

 

“Yeah but... usually I’m Chef #3 or Miscellaneous Truck Driver not like… an _actual_ person,” Jigen replied, although distracted by Lupin hand on his knee, “What makes you think I’m going to be able to do this?”

 

Lupin’s hand moved subtly onto Jigen’s, quickly enough that Jigen didn’t realize it in time to pull his hand away and just slowly enough to give him goosebumps up his arm. Lupin leaned further forward to look more intently at Jigen.

 

“Because I’m always right,” he smiled, “Right?”

 

Jigen was frozen momentarily by this and had no time to respond before he heard the call of the guard at the gate asking for the carriage rider to declare its passenger. He heard Goemon shout back and took a deep breath. _It’s time._

 

He looked once more toward Lupin who retreated back into his seat across from him, pulling a pair of fake glasses from the inner pocket of his jacket and placing them on the bridge of his nose. His head was in a fog suddenly and he reverted to pinching his hands. _Maybe this is just a really bad dream that I just need to wake up from._ Lupin hissed for his attention one last time before they entered the castle, where they were no longer Jigen Daisuke or Arsene Lupin III, but Yamada Kirosuke and his servant.

 

“Think about it, did you _see_ that Kirosuke guy? Amelia’s lucky she gets to marry a guy like you.”

 

“Huh? What do you mean?”

 

“Uh,” Jigen watched Lupin’s face flush pink and smile awkwardly, but warmly, “Nevermind.”

  
_If this is some kind if dream,_ Jigen thought, _then maybe I don’t want to wake up yet._


	5. Duchess' Request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm going to have to fix the summary and title one of these day huh. sorry for the sap in this one.

The outside of the castle gave no suggestion to the grand decor of the inside, where tapestries lined the walls and large expensive vases sat atop polished pedestals in the cleanest entryway the pair had ever seen in their lives. In the vases were coloured roses, vibrant blues and oranges, symbolizing the family colours, that matched the rest of the rooms they walked passed. Jigen could listen closely and hear music, mellow, not unlike jazz but not quite as energetic. A piano, a cello, a female singer with a softened voice… _These people have more money than any human should_ , he realized.

 

They were currently being guided by a servant of the family and Lupin was walking a few steps behind him, no doubt taking in small details of the building that may come in handy later. If there was a crack in the wall or a breeze in the room, Lupin would notice it.

 

“I trust the ride over was to your liking, sir,” the Emberhart servant suddenly spoke.

 

“Yes, your country is quite beautiful,” Jigen replied with some sophistication.

 

“Wonderful,” the servant smiled in such a genuine way that almost made Jigen feel guilty, “Madam Amelia is very excited to meet you.”

 

“As I am, her.”

 

 _I hate this,_ he realized bitterly. They passed by mirrors that stretched from the floor to the ceiling with elaborate golden frames, each reflection making the room look larger than the one before it, and Jigen couldn’t help but look for his own reflection. Fujiko had finished off his disguise that morning by “fixing” his hair and using a big of makeup to cover odd scars. _She didn’t do a half bad job,_ he thought a bit narcissistically.

 

At the end of the hallway they were walking through, sat a set of decoratively carved wooden doors that looked as if it would take ten men to open. However, the Emberhart servant approached the door confidently and pulled the handles with ease, unveiling the ballroom. It was filled with an incredible amount of people, yet none were standing shoulder to shoulder, and everyone looked at ease with the music and alcohol flowing elegantly from a fountain erupting with sparkling pink wine. The source of the music he had been hearing earlier was here and guests were dancing to the melodic sound. This was the Emberharts’ welcoming of Yamada Kirosuke before the official wedding ceremony. Across the room he spotted the family.

 

The Emberharts included the father, Edwin, the mother, Katrina, their oldest son, Gabriel, the youngest daughter, Teresa and of course, Amelia, their oldest daughter. Amelia had long, straight blonde hair, almost down to her hips, and large eyes that were green like the ocean. She stood at around 5”10 or 5”11, only a few inches shorter than him.

 

An illness in her youth had prevented her from getting married sooner, so she was arranged to marry Yamada Kirosuke at the earliest opportunity, which unfortunately was her 29th birthday. She had a glow to her skin which suggested she was in good health, yet he could see some strange sadness in her expression.

 

Amelia was wearing a floor length white dress with pieces of cut emerald sewn into the bodice, that only further accentuated the colour of her eyes. Her eyes, which were now looking toward Jigen, suddenly filled with tears.

 

“Madam-”

 

“I’m fine,” she calmed the servant in a voice that sounded as if it were in cursive, “This has just been a long time waiting, hasn’t it Kirosuke?”

 

“Yes, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Jigen tried his best to ignore the overbearing guilt.

 

“And this is…?” she questioned, looking around Jigen toward Lupin.

 

“F-Francis,” Lupin stuttered, surprised that she even notice he was there, “Francis Perrault.”

 

“Wonderful to meet you!”

 

The rest of the family greeted them in the usual way, and strangely, Amelia was the only one of them to speak to Lupin at all. Her eyes never left Jigen, and her presence quickly made it apparent she was not like the rest of her family. _I guess if she only recently overcame her illness, she might not be used to this kind of lifestyle._ Almost abruptly he realized she was standing in front of him, waiting for an answer.

 

“Ah, sorry. What did you say?”

 

“Could we go for a walk?”

 

“Of course.”

 

He couldn’t seen Lupin in his immediate peripheral, and decided he could handle going for a walk on his own. They stepped out into the hallway and through several corridors till the music was quiet and the guests made no sound at all. She had her arm looped through his elbow and they walked in peaceful silence for a few minutes.

 

“Sorry, I don’t have much to say,” Jigen brought up in the hopes to get a conversation going.

 

“No that’s alright,” she smiled up at him, “I was actually about to say the same thing.”

 

“Right,” he attempted to laugh, but it faded quickly before it began.

 

“I was actually going to ask-”

 

Jigen rolled through all the information in his head that he could remember from last night.

 

“-how was your trip to America with your family? Where was it you went again?”

 

“Huh? Oh, right…”

 

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._

 

“New York. It’s a big city and its very loud but…”

 

“But?”

 

“But a lot of things to do-”

 

“Enough,” she interrupted.

 

Her arm snaked away from his elbow and Jigen could feel his heart sink.

 

“I know you aren’t Kirosuke.”

 

“W-what do you mean?”

 

“I may not have met Kirosuke _in person_ but I’ve been sending him letters in secret for years. In his last letter he told me he wanted us to honeymoon in America since neither of us had ever been.”

 

“Shit.”

 

He didn’t realize he’d said it out loud till she was smiling and suppressing a laugh from behind a gloved hand to her mouth. It was as if she had been holding it in for her whole life, and there wasn’t a string of anger on her face.

 

“You aren’t… mad?”

 

“Oh, I won’t tell a single soul,” she said between breaths, “You’re just what I needed.”

 

“Needed?”

 

“Well, I guess this is fate that we met. There’s something _I_ need from _you_ and there’s something _you_ want from _me,_ isn’t there?”

 

Jigen stared at her, now standing with a more defensive posture. He was compromised, but it seemed like she was willing to offer him a choice, and from the looks of the situation, there was only one he could choose.

 

“I’m looking for a ring collection,” he confessed.

 

“And I’m looking for a record.”

 

“A record?”

 

She looked to the floor mournfully, and her stare traced a line from the ornate carpet, up the wall and to the window. She walked slowly toward it, touching the glass as if it were living and she could feel its pulse.

 

“I assume you know about my illness?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“For as long as I can remember I was stuck in the confines of my room. It was only me in there and even my family only sent servants in to attend to me. In fact I only knew my mother’s face from the paintings in my room. When I turned 10, my father got me a record player for my birthday and several records that I would listen to day after day. One of those records is a copy of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.”

 

Jigen could see the tears from earlier welling in her eyes again, yet this time they ran down her face before she could wipe even one away, and if her glove should touch her eyes they would soak in the sadness pouring out of her.

 

“B-but,” she managed, “Once my health returned and my marriage to Kirosuke was being arranged, I was given a different room in the palace. My father told me he wouldn’t ever allow me back into my old room in case my illness was still in the air.”

 

“I see.”

 

“My father is having my room burned in the hopes it will kill the disease. If he does that, that record will be gone and I’ll never hear it again.”

 

Jigen was about to suggest she just has someone buy her a new record, but realized this went beyond the song on it.

 

“If you bring me that record, I’ll give you every ring collection you can carry.”

 

“I’ll do it,” the words slipped away from him before he could ask Lupin, “But… do you mind if I ask you something?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Why Moonlight Sonata? You said he gave you a bunch of records, but what made that one different?”

 

“Ah,” she smiled, and the tears curled around her dimpled cheeks, “When I started sending letters to Kirosuke he and I would play that record every Sunday at 8 o’clock at night. It was the only thing that both of us really had in common, and when it played....”

 

She paused and looked out to the horizon, past every rolling hill that seemed to stand so much higher than before and forests that now looked like obstacles from this gold plated prison.

 

“It felt like I was out there,” she blinked and freed another tear from the corner of her eye, “With him.”

 

Jigen relaxed his shoulders at the thought of such tender and innocent love, and turned on his heel back toward the ballroom. Amelia wiped the final tears from her eye, as if admitting to herself they were truly the _last_ time she would cry out of sadness for her precious record. Jigen listened to her talk on and on about Kirosuke, the _real_ Kirosuke, and couldn’t help envy her blossoming romance. _No wonder she realized so quickly I was a fraud,_ he thought to himself, _She knows this guy better than he probably knows himself._ Once they’d returned to the ballroom, he located Lupin in a corner making idle chatter with the other servants who weren’t as eager to respond. When he managed to pull him aside and lead him back into a secluded area, he told Lupin about the change in plans.

 

“All she wants is _one_ record in exchange for a billion dollars worth of rings?”

 

“Hey, you can’t compare it to something priceless I suppose,” Jigen brushed it off, leaving out some details of the story for Amelia’s sake.

 

“Well if that’s the new mission,” Lupin cracked his knuckles, “This just got way easier. Meet me in front of the old room at midnight and we’ll finish this tonight.”

 

Jjgen nodded and the pair parted ways for the evening. Amelia played along with the charade and danced with Jigen as if he was the real Kirosuke, speaking fondly of him to other guests and toward midnight caught Lupin’s attention, waving him over to her so she could whisper in his ear.

 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

 

“I could never ask anything of you, madam,” he smiled, “Besides, we brought a little backup with us for tonight.”

 

Lupin looked out toward the ballroom floor where dancing in the centre were the inconspicuous Mine Fujiko and Ishikawa Goemon, blending in as guests there only to celebrate the marriage of Amelia Emberhart and Yamada Kirosuke. Fujiko was wearing a flowing pink dress with long sleeves that draped off her shoulders and complimented the shape of her body, and her hair held up by silver floral clips, while Goemon wore a white tie affair suit, with his hair tied back. Onlookers may have thought they themselves were a happy couple, but in reality they were simply great actors and even better friends.

 

Lupin moved to casually walk away from Amelia, but she pulled him back quickly.

 

“I must insist that nobody get hurt, Francis-”

 

“My name is Lupin, Madam Amelia,” he whispered with his hand to his heart, “And I swear on my profession as a thief that my partners and I won’t hurt a living soul.”

 

“Thank you,” she smiled, letting go of his tail coat and watching him retreat to his position on the ballroom floor. He gave the signal, the simple act of removing his glasses, and Goemon activated the switch in his inner jacket pocket, releasing the crack of fireworks that could be heard and seen through the large balcony to the left of the ballroom. The guests poured in to watch the marvelous sight, and Jigen and Lupin slipped quietly out of the back, leaving Fujiko and Goemon to make sure everyone stayed distracted long enough for them to retrieve the Moonlight Sonata record.


	6. Their Moonlight Sonata

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little longer, i try to keep each chapter at around 2,000 but this one is like 2,200 some-odd.

The duo quickly made their way to Amelia’s childhood bedroom, not wasting the opportunity that Goemon and Fujiko had set up for them. At the doorway, Lupin pulled a gadget from his belt. It was a small red box with a curled wire attached to it, and once switched on, began emitting a crackling noise.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It’s a contraption that detects obscurites in air quality. So things like poison, low oxygen, wavering temperature-”

 

“Airborne disease?”

 

“Bingo,” he replied, pointing a finger gun at him with his other hand, “If any of that is in here, this thing will tell us.”

 

Lupin covered his nose and mouth with his jacket and Jigen opened the door, allowing Lupin to reach an arm in and allowing the machine to work its magic. A few moments passed before they heard the all clear come from the handheld machine. Lupin dropped the arm holding his jacket to his face and retrieved the detector.

 

“The air in there might as well be healthier than the stuff we’re breathing out here,” Lupin remarked, sliding into the room with less caution knowing their health wasn’t in any immediate danger.

 

“It’s god awful when you think about it,” Jigen thought aloud, “That she spent all those years in here alone, and for no reason.”

 

“Yep, she was about as contagious as chicken pox and probably half as deadly,” Lupin said, “And her family still didn’t bother to come and see her. Poor thing.”

 

Looking around the room, it was almost haunting. It was just as richly decorated as the rest of the home, but abandoned toys and books were scattered around the room, and the walls were lined with painted portraits of her family. Portraits that didn’t include her. Lupin bypassed these sad mementos toward the record player sitting next to the large window sill that she must have sat in all day to pass time. There was a shelf filled with records, about 5 feet high by 10 feet wide, and Lupin rolled up his sleeves.

 

“She had some kind of collection,” Lupin commented, pulling a Beatles album from the compressed space of the shelf, “We better work fast to find her Moonlight Sonata.”

 

The pair filed through dozens of records, some more dust covered than others, and from varying music movements, but nonetheless impressive. Every so often, Lupin would look down at his watch to make sure they weren’t running out of time. The fireworks were supposed to give them about 15 or 20 minutes. Around the third time Lupin checked, around the ten minute mark, Jigen pulled Amelia’s treasure from the shelf.

 

“Ah, good work!”

 

“Hold on, we better check and make sure that the record in this sleeve is actually what we’re looking for.”

 

“Are you one of those people who doesn’t put their records back in the right sleeve?”

 

“Used to be.”

 

Lupin pretended to gag and laughed to himself while Jigen examined the disk.

 

“The label on it is kind of worn out,” Jigen said, squinting, “I can’t tell if this is it.”

 

“Well, there’s another way to check what’s on the record,” Lupin stood up and walked toward the record player, “Hopefully this thing still works. She was using it up until a year ago, right?”

 

“So she says,” Jigen responded, pretending to doubt her.

 

“Here goes nothing,” Lupin said, retrieving the record from Jigen’s hand and placing it on the record player, and setting the needle down.

 

In an instant the sound erupted in a hypnotizing way that could immediately be recognized as none other than Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Lupin sat down in the window sill and Jigen joined him. He looked down toward his watch. About four minutes left. They looked out the window where Amelia would have sat and watched the lake outside change with the wind and shine with different light every morning, every evening, every night. Jigen looked up toward Lupin for some sign that he understood the significance of this song and this view. He was met with Lupin looking back at him, as if waiting for him to speak.

 

“I think I forgot to say this earlier,” Jigen lied slightly, “But Amelia told me why this record meant so much to her.”

 

“Yeah?” Lupin responded, just above a whisper, so as to not interrupt the beautiful melody.

 

“Apparently her and that Kirosuke guy would listen to this song at the same time every week, and uh…”

 

“Pretend they were together?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The music must have had a way to pull people together, because, without realizing it, the two were now sitting almost shoulder to shoulder. Almost face to face.

 

“I can’t believe they were communicating for years and nobody ever knew it,” Lupin said, “She must have had one of the servants sending the letters to him as soon as she realized they were arranged to be married.”

 

“Kinda makes you feel bad when you think he’s tied up at the hideout huh?”

 

“Hm? Oh no, I had Fujiko and Goemon move him to some random house and then call Pops to come and get him. I betcha ol’ Zeni is on his way right now,” Lupin smiled, “But on the brightside Amelia and Kirosuke will be united at last and we’ll be filthy rich.”

 

The end of the song clashed with the silence of the room and the static of the record player projecting empty sound brought a feeling of dissonance. The needle on the record player had slipped, leaving the song incomplete and their thoughts interrupted. Jigen became all too aware of how close he was to Lupin and watched as Lupin’s stare didn’t break from the moon covered lake, his own eyes reflecting the splendor. Of course Jigen didn’t want to admit it. His heart was pounding and his face and hands felt hot from the embarrassment of how it made him feel just by sitting next to him. He tore his eyes away from his friend but it didn’t silence the shouting in his head.  _ I’m in love with him, I’m in love with him, I’m really in love with him. _

 

Lupin’s watch alarm dinged and they slipped out of the room just as casually that they had entered it, except this time with the record in its sleeve, ready to return to the hands of its owner. They had arranged with Amelia earlier to meet her at her new room, about half an hour after midnight. Lupin’s knock met with the fastest door opening he’d ever seen and a heart-warming smile they knew the real Kirosuke was lucky to be in love with. She pulled the two in with remarkable strength and held the record in her hands with the same care that a mother held her newborn.

 

“Your rings are on the desk over there,” Amelia gestured to a modest reading area in the corner, “I had a servant bring up as many as she could, and I told her I simply wanted to wear one to the party. If your crew makes off with them they’ll never know I willingly gave them to you.”

 

“Right on,” Lupin smiled, “The real Kirosuke should be here either tonight or tomorrow. I wish you guys a happy marriage and I thank you for the party favours!”

 

“Thank you,” she clutched the record to her chest, “Thank you so much.”

 

There were six boxes in total, each one was clear glass framed with gold, containing around twenty dazzling rings in each box, sporting rubies, sapphires, emeralds and more. Jigen and Lupin carried three boxes each and made for the door, which Amelia was holding open for them. Before Lupin could stand to leave, he had to ask,

 

“Do you know whose ring collection this is?”

 

“Hm? Grace Kelly’s, I believe.”

 

Lupin looked down at the treasure in his hands as if the value of them had tripled, which it probably had, and flashed one last smile before darting down the hall with Jigen and only stopping by the ballroom to pick up Goemon and Fujiko…  _ and _ to put on a little show. Upon bursting into the ballroom he held the rings above his head.

 

“Your rings are now the property of Lupin the Third! Thanks for the welcoming party,” he shouted as he waited for Fujiko and Goemon to join his side, “But me and the gang will be leaving now! Seeya!”

 

And with that they fled the building, being chased by guests and guards alike, hopping into the Fiat where Fujiko had parked it earlier. All the while, Amelia hid the record under her bed and returned to the party as if she had never left, and waited in her heart for her love to return so they could listen to their song for the first time together.

 

Just as Lupin had predicted, Zenigata was already nearby in his police car, bad mouthing some poor private to drive faster and weave through obstacles to try and catch up to the elusive gang of Lupin the Third, but as per usual, failed spectacularly. With the flashing police lights and sirens fading into the distance, it was brought into focus that Fujiko was sitting in the backseat with the rings, picking each one up and holding it to the light. Each one no doubt authentic but irresistible to take in.

 

“Aaah,” she sighed as she put a large ruby ring with a gold band and diamond wreath on her finger, “Have you ever seen such a beautiful thing in your life?”

 

“Nope,” Jigen cut back.

 

“You’re  _ supposed  _ to say ‘You're twice as beautiful as these rings’.”

 

“Alright,” Jigen conceited, “ _ I’m  _ twice as beautiful as those rings.”

 

“Oh shut up,” Fujiko pouted, placing more rings on her pretty hands.

 

“Fujiko,” Lupin called sweetly to the back, “Choose one please. We gotta sell the rest.”

 

She whined for a bit, but settled on a hexagonal cut 24 karat diamond ring, with a gold band that had leaves etched into it. It was easily the most expensive one in the cases, but not nearly the only diamond ring.

 

“Why that one?” Lupin asked.

 

“Because diamonds match everything,” she answered, continuing to ooh and ahh at her decorated hand, “Oh, by the way Lupin, could you drop me off at my house? As much as I’d love to spend the night with these rings, I have a date tonight.”

 

“Huh!? Is it a different guy from last week!?”

 

“Nope. Same guy but I think he’s going to tell me where he hides his art stash soon.”

 

“Oh, well,” Lupin said pulling over onto the road to Fujiko’s mansion, “Good luck then!”

 

At some point while they were driving, Goemon must’ve gotten off at his desired location, because he was no longer sitting on top of the Fiat. He made a point of hardly ever sitting inside the car on account of Lupin’s extensive poor driving record, and enjoyed a certain anonymity when it came to where he was departing. Fujiko didn’t mind the rest of the gang knowing where she lived, after all, if she didn’t want to be found then there was nothing any if them could do to find her. Fujiko waved them off and strutted up the stairway of her home, a home which suggested a handful of rings wouldn’t mean much outside of the aesthetic value. Lupin waved eagerly back, shadowing Jigen’s vague salute he gave without either him or Fujiko really looking.

 

“Check and see how many rings she actually took,” Lupin told Jigen once Fujiko was out of sight, not with a tone of anger but more along the lines of unpreventable acceptance.

 

Jigen pushed his hat down onto his head, having kept it in the car for the sake of hiding his face again once the mission was over. It clashed awkwardly with his expensive suit, but he had other things to worry about. He crawled into the backseat as Lupin pulled out of the driveway and did his best to count out the missing rings.

 

“Eleven.”

 

“Eleven!?”

 

Jigen shrugged his shoulders, not at all surprised by this. Lupin was looking into the backseat, only confirming Goemon’s accusation that he was a terrible driver, but slowly retreated back till he was staring toward the road. It would have been considered responsible to an outsider but Jigen knew him, and knew the gears in his head were turning. Before he could speak, Lupin said something strange.

 

“Jigen, why don’t you take one too? Make it an even twelve.”

 

“You want me to pick out a ring?”

 

Lupin didn’t respond, but instead hummed to the quiet song from the radio. Whether or not he actually knew the song was anyone’s guess, but Jigen could at least confirm he was serious. He looked down at the cases, now slightly bare than they had been earlier, and spotted an opal ring. From afar it looked plain and white, simple and circular with a silver band, but in the light caught veins of colour that he couldn’t help but stare at. He placed it on his pinky finger and pondered how odd the clean cut ring looked on such a rough hand.

 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Lupin suddenly realized, “I said I’d owe you something for playing the fiance.”

 

“I’m fine with the ring,” he lied.

 

“Don’t be modest,” Lupin offered, “There’s something else you want, isn’t there?”


	7. Archie Greenfeld

_Something else… I want…?_

 

Jigen thought about it for a second. The mix of hesitance and accusation in Lupin’s voice took him aback. There was something Lupin wanted to say, but couldn’t. Not by asking him to think of something, but suggesting he already knew what he wanted. The implication alone made Jigen nervous, and he left the car silent for a few moments, pretending to think but really just procrastinating. Staring out the window he could see they’d driven into vacant area filled mostly with dry grass and patches of sand that would easily get swept up by even small breezes. Dim street lights marked the side of the road every few few, only encircling itself in a small radius of yellow light and only illuminating the inside of the Fiat long enough to briefly catch each other’s faces. The sound of a roaring engine, several of them as a matter of fact, stirred him from his already vague focus on the topic at hand. He watched Lupin adjusting the mirrors to see what was behind them before turning himself around to inspect it as well. Behind them were police cars, about ten of them, all with lights flashing and quickly catching up having caught them off guard. Lupin scoffed under his breath.

 

“Zenigata’s backup is getting here pretty late, huh?”

 

“I suppose, but,” Jigen paused, “How did they find us-”

 

Abruptly, the sharp sound of the window shattering interrupted his thoughts, first taking out the back windshield and straight-shotting for the front windshield. Lupin cursed loudly and attempted to push the rest of the glass out because, as it stood, it was like a spider web overtaking his vision of the road ahead of them, which at the moment was most vital to their escape.

 

“These aren’t Zenigata’s men,” Lupin shouted toward the back, over the rushing wind now coming in from the gaping windshield of the Fiat, picking up speed.

 

“What makes you so sure!?”

 

“Zenigata would never shoot at us like that,” Lupin said, in a strangely fond tone considering the circumstance, “He’s a crazy, diehard cop but he doesn’t want us dead.”

 

Jigen thought about it quickly - he didn’t have the option to think it over slowly - but what Lupin was saying was true. Several times Zenigata had the opportunity to fire at them, several times he has had the gang in his aim, or have had his men take aim, but the call for fire never came and the triggers were never pulled. In fact, his weapon of choice was usually his handcuffs, or his baton, but he rarely pulled out his gun. Noble, considering his fate as Lupin’s enemy, wanting to see him detained but never wanting to see him hurt. The Fiat rocked suddenly to signal it’s tires being blown out one by one and, despite Jigen’s best efforts at firing back, the Fiat skidded and slid to it’s eventually halt. All that was left was for the police cars to catch up.

 

“Okay, Lupin, what’s the plan-”

 

“Jigen, listen to me,” he interrupted suddenly, crawling from the driver’s seat to reach into the back, “I need to tell you something when we get out of this.”

 

Jigen felt shocks like fireworks in the nerves of his hand, looking at his hand now tightly wrapped in Lupin’s. There was an urgency in the grasp, like he was unsure of _something,_ yet Lupin did not say ‘if’ we get out of this, but rather ‘when’ we get out of this.

 

“Right…”

 

“Jigen,” Lupin paused to squeeze his hand a bit tighter now, “Who is the luckiest guy you know?”

 

Jigen’s pulse picked up, detecting now the stakes and realizing the anxiety coming from Lupin. He didn’t know what was going on, and there were a million better questions in the world to be asking right now, but he could tell from Lupin’s still face, or at least the outline he could see in the dark of the backseat, that this question was something that needed to be answered, now or never.

 

“I mean… you have got to be the luckiest guy in the _world_ ,” Jigen paused, thrown off by the question, but not wanting to make morale worse, “You really have the dumbest luck.”

 

He wanted desperately to know what was going on in Lupin’s head. The warmth from his touch was slowly exchanged for the cold of the car as Lupin took his hands back, and the police cars came to a stop, surrounding the Fiat.

 

“Let’s hope it stays that way.”

 

A man with a megaphone stepped out from the apparent leading vehicle. He stood fairly tall, with broad shoulders and blonde hair. He certainly looked like a police officer, but Lupin was never wrong about these things. The sound of leather shoes crunching grains of dry sand beneath each step only resonated with his villainous aura, and he brought the megaphone to his mouth with one hand, and used the other to hold his gun.

 

“Step out of the vehicle slowly. You boys are outnumbered.”

 

Lupin looked to Jigen and nodded, thought visibly angered by the turn things had taken. As they stepped from the backseat of the Fiat, it was as if Lupin has stepped through a curtain and into a role. His demeanor went from cold and unsure, to his usual cocky and sarcastic self. Jigen wondered for a moment where the Lupin from the backseat had gone, but realized that perhaps he’d left the Jigen that let others see his weakness there too. Not out of embarrassment, but for safety’s sake. They weren’t gone, and maybe they both longed to get back as soon as possible. For now, they couldn’t think about anything but survival.

 

“Come on, we’re probably older than you, y’know,” Lupin yelled back, sarcastically.

 

“You must be Lupin the Third,” the officer lowered the megaphone, knowing that he had Lupin’s attention, “The infamous thief.”

 

“ _Bien sur_!” Lupin winked with an informal salute.

 

“I hope you aren’t known for clean escapes.”

 

“I am when the playing field is fair,” Lupin replied, “Now why don’t you tell me the secret to your trick, Deputy Dan?”

 

“The name is Archie Greenfeld.”

 

“What a terrible name for a villain,” Lupin laughed, but quieted as a gun from an officer nearby made acquaintances with the side of his head.

 

“The thing is Lupin,” he began to shift the balance on his heels, “That you are careless.”

 

“That’s the first I’ve ever heard of it.”

 

“We’ve had eyes on you for a while. We didn’t know what you were going to steal, only that you would _eventually_ steal again. You and your little partner there pulled over for some summer fun didn’t you?”

 

The time at the beach was what he was referring to, but Jigen glared at Greenfeld from under the brim of his hat at being called Lupin’s ‘little partner’. Lupin’s face didn’t waver.

 

“Well, either way,” Greenfeld smiled cruelly, “You left the Fiat in the perfect position to place a tracker on it. We heard your plans to steal the ring collection, what time you were going to be intercepting Kirosuke’s carriage and what the plan was to make off with them. It was surprisingly easy.”

 

“If this was your big plan to get the rings back, you would’ve been further ahead to stop us before we took them at all. Hate to say it, but a colleague of mine already took her fair share.”

 

“You don’t get it do you?”

 

He gestured for an officer to his right to come forward, then pointed for the Fiat. The officer nodded, understanding the instructions before they were even spoken.

 

“You can get away with a lot in this career,” Greenfeld laughed, “So I hate to say _this_ Lupin, but you aren’t coming out of this alive.”

 

“...And you’re coming out of this with the ring collection.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

 

The pieces were coming together. These were real police officers, but right under Zenigata’s nose there was a cult of cops that strived to exploit criminals and take their fair share of the loot, no better than thieves. Greenfeld was their leader, and most likely stood on a treasure pile that crowned him as the best thief in terms of monetary value, but executed him as the worst in terms of honour. The officer he had sent to the Fiat stopped suddenly after noticing something on Jigen’s hand catch the light of the nearby street light sitting atop a rotting wooden pole.

 

“Sir, this one has one of the ring’s on his hand. An opal one.”

 

Jigen began analyzing his surroundings. As a gunman he had to keep in mind distance. The distance between him and Lupin, the distance between Lupin and the officer, the officer and himself, Greenfeld and himself, it was all relevant to the perfect shot. There was no openings to hit Greenfeld, but if he could get this officer as a hostage, it would buy them some time. The risk was that if Lupin didn’t catch on, he might be held hostage as well. _If Lupin were to get hurt_ , Jigen thought to himself, _I’d never forgive myself_.

 

“Take it from him.”

 

The officer grabbed for Jigen’s wrist, but he promptly dodged it and elbowed the officer in the chest. The officer swung back with a clenched fist that Jigen managed to dodge as well. Before he could aim the next blow, the officer had his arms around his shoulders, restraining him. This was an easy enough maneuver to escape from, but the sound of a gunshot struck through the air brought the fight to a halt. Jigen found there was always that moment, right after the trigger is pulled that you feel your body freeze, and the feeling only returns when you focus on your feet, then moves upward till your head defrosts and you realize “I wasn’t hit” and if you are lucky, it moves to “Who was hit instead?”. His vision immediately tore to Lupin who looked pale, staring behind him. He recalled at the beach earlier when they stared at each other, standing in ankle deep water, feeling the hot sun on their faces, and he longed for that moment back. It was warm there, and peaceful, in contrast to now where the sun was well below the horizon and the air was all but peaceful. Lupin to his apparent knowledge was physically fine, which only left…

 

“You shot your own man…” Lupin mumbled, eyes unbreaking from the dead officer lying motionless on the ground.

 

“If he can’t get one measly ring off the finger of scum like you he has no use being in my team,” Greenfeld said, lifting his pistol which was still smoking at the tip, “You remember what I said about getting away with things? What my men just saw here was your partner there shoot my poor officer down in cold blood.”

 

“You’re framing us.”

 

“And there isn’t a court in the world that wouldn’t believe me.”

 

Jigen could tell Lupin was tottering on the edge of anger. Inside there was a boiling fury, and a complete disgust in Greenfeld. They were surrounded by men that would die, have died and will die for Greenfeld, and there was nothing they could do about it. Greenfeld approached Jigen this time, gun pointed at his chin, causing Jigen to grit his teeth with the same frustration as Lupin.

 

“Your ring.”

 

Jigen allowed him, bitterly, to take the ring off his hand. He watched it leave his finger, the veins of colour now seeming to fade away in the hands of a colourless man. Greenfeld’s cruel smile only made the feeling worse. He didn’t take his eyes off Jigen has he backed up to his original spot, gesturing for another officer to search the Fiat for the rest of the rings as a replacement for the fallen and betrayed officer. Suddenly, a noise they’d heard earlier, the rumbling of engines approaching, kickstarted again, yet this time it brought a visible air of confusion to the band of cops-turned-thieves. A shorter officer, standing closest to Greenfeld’s car, approached him fervently, almost dramatically.

 

“It’s Zenigata’s crew!”

 

“What!?” Greenfeld yelled above the murmuring of the nervous officers, “Who the hell called that bastard in!?”

 

The shorter officer, now standing behind him, tapped him quickly on the shoulder, causing him to turn almost comically into the sucker punch they had geared up and waiting for him. In one seamless motion the officer’s hat came off, revealing long waving strands of auburn hair, and a familiar feminine face.

 

“That would be me,” Fujiko said, winking.

 

Greenfeld was curled on the ground holding his face with the hand that once held his gun. Fujiko moved quickly and stealthily, first grabbing Greenfeld’s gun, the opal ring, and then barreling for the duo standing in awe at what was unfolding in front of their eyes. Lupin shook his head and knocked out the officer, also apparently thrown off by this spectacle, while Jigen moved for his gun, taking out as many car tires and drawn guns as he could before following Lupin and Fujiko out of the line of action. The group hopped into a ditch nearby that lead down to a road not well-traveled in a small brush of the woods below.

 

“Where are you taking us?” Jigen called after Fujiko.

 

“The getaway car, duh,” she yelled back, farther ahead than the other two.

 

At the bottom of the brush there sat Lupin’s old Mercedes SSK, with Goemon already sitting in the backseat waiting for another classic escape. Lupin’s eyes went glossy at the sight of the old machine, a fondness in his eyes, and then confusion.

 

“Wait you guys broke into my car collection!?” Lupin realized, jumping into the drivers side and revving the engine, Jigen at his side and Fujiko joining Goemon in the back.

 

“Hey, Goemon was the one who picked it! I was undercover!”

 

“It’s the only one of your vehicles I know how to drive…” Goemon admitted, obviously excluding the Fiat they were going to have to replace.

 

Lupin laughed at the innocent response and went full speed down the trail and back to the hideout, leaving only a trail of dust and a squad of crooked cops behind.

 

“So, Lupin,” Fujiko nonchalantly spoke, “What’s the plan now?”

 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lupin said, cranking the old radio, “That asshole Greenfeld is sitting on a pile of stuff he couldn’t be bothered to steal himself. There is nobody in the world that deserves it less than him, or more than me.”

 

And so the wheels were set into motion. Lupin was going to get revenge on Greenfeld by taking every last item from his underhanded collection. Jigen took some comfort knowing that this plan would take a few months of planning. After all, today had drained him completely and he desperately wanted down time. Speaking in both terms of physically and emotionally, he wanted nothing more than to get back to the hideout and rest for a while. A small voice in his head reminded him though, of Lupin talking to him in the Fiat. _He said he wanted to tell me something, didn’t he?_ He looked toward Lupin driving with one arm hanging out of the side and one hand on the steering wheel, with a face twisted in thought of all the things he wanted to say to Greenfeld, and what he would say to Greenfeld when the time came. Jigen thought for a moment about bringing it up, but hesitated, turning instead to watch the wilderness passing by them. _Maybe it wasn’t that important anyway..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cutting it a little close with the update time but here it is. it's also more words than usual but i got a little carried away i guess. this part of the story will probably be wrapped up soon and i'll write their next heist as apart of a series?? im thinking about it
> 
> **EDIT: Sorry for the spelling mistakes I can't believe it took me so long to catch them ;_;


	8. Opal Ring

By the time they returned to the hideout it seemed like Lupin was collectively more hellbent on revenge than the rest of the crew. Upon entering the door, his jacket was thrown to the couch and he was clearing the area, starting his tirade against Greenfeld. He was unusually angry for someone who had made himself look so calm and confident earlier. Jigen sat on the couch and pulled out his Marlboros, taking one out with his teeth and using his empty hand to light it. While Fujiko and Goemon made themselves comfortable- Goemon in front of the coffee table and Fujiko lounging in the large armchair across from Jigen- Lupin continued to pace around the room.

 

“This is gonna’ take months of planning but I’m gonna’ show that bastard-”

 

“Lupin.”

 

“He doesn’t mess with me- or my friends or-”

 

“Lupin,” Jigen repeated.

 

“By the time I’m through with him the police are gonna’ have to put out  _ help _ wanted posters-”

 

“We aren’t  _ gonna  _ do anything if you don’t calm down first,” Jigen stated flatly, now using his free hand to pull Lupin onto the couch.

 

Lupin stretched his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling, clearly frustrated but now recognizing his childish behaviour. After a few deep breaths a switch seemed to turn on and Lupin straightened himself forward to stare wide-eyed at Fujiko.

 

“Fujiko, how did you know where to find us?”

 

“Now you ask,” Fujiko smiled, staring at her nails, as if she was never planning on telling them if neither of them planned on asking.

 

“I was wondering too,” Jigen admitted, “But you must have used the tracker in the Fiat.”

 

“Oh, there’s more to it than you give me credit for.”

 

Lupin and Jigen more or less accepted that the tracker in the Fiat was there forever. Once they realized she had planted one, they spent the whole morning looking for it to no avail. It bothered them for weeks, then days, then eventually they grew used to it. They weren’t dead yet so maybe the tracker wasn’t such a bad addition, especially after what they’d been through that day. Lupin leaned forward at Fujiko’s mysterious way of speaking, ready to listen to her story, and Jigen listened closely though didn’t make an effort to face her.

 

“This isn’t the best way to start telling you what happened,” she began, “But do you remember how I said I had a date tonight?”

 

“Don’t tell me,” Lupin’s face dropped.

 

“Unfortunately, Greenfeld is the dope I’ve been dating in order to find out where he keeps his art collection. I knew he was a police officer, and so I had his radio rigged so I could eavesdrop on what he was bringing home for me, y’know?” she sighed, “I knew he was crooked the whole time, but I never thought it’d get to you. Sorry.”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Jigen said before Lupin could, almost surprised by his own readiness to forgive her. She usually wasn’t the forgivable type but she got them out of hot water, so he understood whatever debt she had was already paid. He spotted Lupin smiling at him out of the corner of his eyes before his attention returned to Fujiko.

 

“Either way, after you dropped me off I got a message from the butler that Greenfeld called to cancel,” she continued, half-bragging at the mention of her butler, “Once I realized something was up I listened to one of the earlier recordings from the police radio and it was Zenigata calling in for reinforcements. I tried to call you guys but-”

 

She sat up in a fit.

 

“You never keep your phones on you!” she pointed at them suddenly, “I mean, what’s the point of even having one if you don’t even bother to-”

 

“Hey, don’t point fingers! You never answer your phone either!” Lupin cut back, now standing.

 

“That’s because I don’t want to take to a monkey!” she stood up, with her hands on her hips as if scolding him, “Now do you want to hear the end of the story or not!?”

 

Lupin begrudgingly sat back down, while Goemon and Jigen held back laughter at the playful banter reminding them that they were allowed to calm down now. In reality, out of the three of them Goemon was the only one who actually kept his phone on him, though he had no idea how to use it. Lupin had broken his phone beyond repair months prior and Jigen had it and lost it in the span of a day. They were bulky, static-y things that annoyed him greatly, so it wasn’t a great loss in his eyes by any means.  _ A loss of weight in my pocket, maybe,  _ he figured.

 

“So obviously you guys were sitting ducks and I had no way of contacting you, but I  _ did  _ have the tracker and access to the police radio so finding you guys was never the problem, but I just needed the getaway car and-”

 

“And Zenigata.”

 

“Zenigata,” she looked annoyed at being disrupted, “He had no idea it was going on. I guess Greenfeld has been digging into Pop’s business for a while now right under his nose. That’s his modus operandi- he gets the dirty details, gains the trust of the head officer, sneaks under the radar during the chase, takes his share and finishes it off by calling in that the perp was caught but the loot was missing.”

 

“You’d think something with so many holes in it would be a little more obvious,” Lupin said, “Zenigata isn’t the smartest man in the world but that’s pretty cut and dry.”

 

“I think you should know more than anybody that nobody ever trusts the word of a criminal, Lupin,” she spoke quietly, “Don’t you remember Jigen shooting that poor police man-?”

 

“Don’t joke about that-” Jigen replied sharply, angry at the thought of it being brought up again.

 

“But my point is proven. Once I infiltrated the squad I called Zenigata with the coordinates and Goemon was waiting with the getaway car. After that it was a matter of getting you away from Greenfeld and voila, we’re alive and here right now.”

 

With her story finished the room fell quiet. Jigen had his head leaning back on the couch, staring at the smoke trail fading up and into the open air from the end of his cigarette. He could hear Goemon getting up, maybe to leave, maybe to grab a drink, but his exhaustion was now weighing heavy on his eyelids. Thanks to Greenfeld, Lupin was probably going to be up all night, which usually meant Jigen’s sleeping schedule was made up depending on if Lupin was too angry to sleep or not. At the moment, it looked bleak.

 

“I’m going to sleep for a while,” Jigen stood up and headed for his bedroom, not losing the opportunity to rest for even a minute, “Nobody bug me.”

 

He heard the front door of the hideout shut, confirming Goemon was heading out ambiguously, likely avoiding whatever further rant Lupin was going to inevitably start again. As if to echo the sound he shut the door to his room and took in the darkness like a welcoming call to sleep. As soon as his body hit the mattress and his hat was rolled off his head and onto the side table, he was dozing off to the muted sounds of Lupin and Fujiko chatting a room over. If Goemon was leaving, Jigen didn’t want to be the third wheel on the Fujiko and Lupin wagon anyway. The only thing keeping him up was Lupin, which on it’s own wasn’t unusual anymore, but specifically how he acted while Greenfeld was surrounding them. There was something in his voice and a look in eyes that still had Jigen shaken. However, he knew there was no convenient way to bring it up now. Of course he wanted to know what Lupin wanted to tell him, but there was this prominent voice in his head telling him that the moment had passed. Whatever he  _ thought  _ Lupin was going to say, or whatever he  _ wanted _ Lupin to say, was likely not what Lupin was ever really thinking, and whatever he was  _ really  _ going to say had either changed a million times or been entirely forgotten by that point. A knock on the door stirred him awake and aware.

 

“Wakey wakey,” Fujiko’s voice cooed from the door, already open before Jigen could respond.

 

“Last I checked ‘Don’t bug me’ didn’t mean ‘Waltz in and wake me the hell up’.”

 

“Don’t be a baby,” Fujiko flicked the back of Jigen’s head, and he turned to look at her, readying his hand to flick her back, but stopped at the sight of what she was holding. Held between two perfect, well-kept fingers was a silver band sporting a large opal.

 

“The ring…” he mumbled sleepily, reaching for it.

 

“Hmph!” she pulled it away from him suddenly, and dangled the ring above the opening of her shirt, “Not two seconds ago you were yelling at me and now you want your ring back? As if!”

 

What followed was a sad game of keepaway that Jigen lost almost pitifully despite competing with a woman much shorter than him. She laughed at his dreary movements and threw away an easy win, pressing the ring on his chest waiting for his hands to cup around the piece of jewellery. She walked toward the door signalling her decision to finally leave the hideout and sleep in her mansion filled with the luxuries that Lupin and Jigen only pretended not to be slightly jealous of.

 

“Make sure you don’t lose that anymore,” Fujiko chimed, “If you think Lupin’s mad now, imagine if Greenfeld would’ve made off with that little thing.”

 

“I’m sure Lupin wouldn’t bat an eye about one ring,” he responded tiredly, “He’s a nut but he’s not that greedy.”

 

“You’re right, he wouldn’t lose his head over  _ one  _ ring,” she said now whispering with her hand ready to turn the doorknob of the bedroom, “But he’d lose his mind over  _ your  _ ring.”

 

“Hm?”

 

With that she slipped out of the room and Jigen slid the ring into his pocket, listening to her light footsteps moving toward the door, and more noticeably, Lupin not saying goodbye. He wasn’t satisfied by the little sleep he got, but his curiosity got the best of him and he followed out of the room to find Fujiko quietly slipping her boots back on at the doorway and gesturing with one finger pressed to her lips for him to keep quiet. He looked toward the couch to see Lupin flopped on his side, not comfortably but most definitely sound asleep.

 

“Uh... is he alright?”

 

“He was getting a little high strung so I might have knocked him out for a bit.”

 

“Is he going to, uh,” Jigen nudged Lupin’s shoulder a bit with his finger, “Wake up?”

“Of course he is! I didn’t kill him for God’s sake!” she hissed at him, “He’ll be out long enough for me to get out of here so he’s your problem and not mine.”

 

“Gee, thanks.”

 

“Anytime,” she saluted and quickly left before Jigen could run after her. She was already halfway down the metal steps by the time Jigen hit the railway with a thunk and a sharp turn, skipping some steps on the way down in the hopes of catching up. Any outsider might assume the two were siblings, or at the very least the furthest apart from being a couple. She managed to get down the stairs faster than him, though she was breathless from laughing, and Jigen, realizing this, paused at the bottom of the stairs to sit down and watch her go. He cupped his hands to his mouth as she was putting on her helmet.

 

“You owe me one!” Jigen called, “I’m not gonna’ get any sleep tonight!”

 

“Sounds like your problem!” she waved and brought the bike to a start with a light, almost undetectable hum and sped off. Jigen watched until she was out of sight and wandered back up the stairs, if not to sleep then to catch Lupin’s sleeping face again before he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20 minutes before midnight and I really hope there's no mistakes here. also i'm surprised this is 2000 words, i kept typing for a bit like 'i better check to see how much more i have to write' and turns out i was over 2000 words already so i had to save the rest for the next chapter lol. doesn't feel like much happened this chapter sorry.


	9. Watching From A Distance

Jigen trudged up the stairs, a long day with only a little sleep barely keeping him upright. He looked down at his feet and realized he had run after Fujiko without his shoes. A large hole at the heel of his sock met the cold of the metal grate stairs leading back up to the second floor of the abandoned-looking building where the hideout was waiting. It was located in plain sight, which Lupin sometimes regarded as the best way to hide when one was on the run, in a large city not that far from a police station which knew nothing of their whereabouts. They hadn’t been caught yet, so at the moment Lupin was correct in his regard. Jigen could spot lights from neon signs shining in through the windows of the living room and picked up the pace only slightly.  _ I better get up there and shut the damn curtains _ , he thought to himself and rubbed his eyes,  _ I don’t need Lupin waking up and raving again _ . 

 

He walked in a smooth but lazy way, almost sliding with the little energy he had preventing him from lifting his feet with any grace. The curtains were brought together, preventing the unnatural light from endangering his partner’s sleep, but not entirely depleting the darkness. He could see the shape of Lupin on the couch, laying still and breathing even, unbothered by the light regardless. Jigen approached quietly, careful to watch his face for any sign of awakening, before quietly settling on the coffee table and resting his elbows on his knees. He was leaning in enough to focus on some small features of Lupin’s sleeping face through the weak light.

 

His eyes traced slowly around his partner’s face, starting at his lips that curled at the corners of his mouth, giving him a pleasant resting face. Travelling up from his lips he focused on the hint of colour on Lupin’s cheeks that brought him to life with a healthy pinkish glow barely visible in the dark room. He had a round face to begin with, and the bit of warmth clear on his face made Jigen wish he could rest the back of his hand there, but recognized he couldn’t with the way things were between them. He reached his eyes and brought in every detail, like his long, dark eyelashes, the curve of his eyelid, the angle of his brow bone and his dark eyebrows, each new observation filling him with an overwhelming feeling of calmness, like a breath of fresh air. He couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off of him, and wanted nothing more than for this to be a comfortable reality between the two of them. To someday wake up to this view every day and never get tired of it, their life as thieves behind them but not forgotten, living just as they were now but with a new kind of “together”. Yet the room replaced the warmth of the fantasy with the cool green light passing through the curtains, reminding him that he was here now, watching and waiting for Lupin to wake up and for everything to be the same as it was this morning and last night and the day before.

 

“Is she gone?” Lupin asked, opening on eye.

 

Jigen jumped suddenly at Lupin’s eyes unexpectedly opening and embarrassingly enough, shouted in surprise.

 

“Were you awake this whole fucking time!?” he yelled back, holding his chest out of shock.

 

“Did I scare you?” Lupin smiled, sitting up like a vampire from a coffin, “I make a convincing body, don’t I? I should be an actor on those cop shows.”

 

“I thought Fujiko-”

 

“Oh, please,” Lupin interrupted, “She’s slipped me so many pills over the years, if I actually took every single one I’d have been dead years ago. At this point I just let her think it’s working to avoid the hassle. Though I guess I dozed off at some point...”

 

“Are you serious?” Jigen grumbled, resettling on the coffee table wearing a new shade of red on his face.

 

“I mean if she wants to leave  _ that _ badly, she could just go, I’m not gonna’ stop her-”

 

“No, I mean,” Jigen spoke awkwardly, “You were  _ awake _ ...”

 

Jigen buried his face in his hands, ashamed of himself. He knew he should at least have the decency to face him after being caught in the act, yet he could feel how hot his face was through his hands and dreaded the thought of being confronted so forwardly. He knew that it was all done with innocent intent but the more he twisted it in his head the sicker he felt. Jigen could feel Lupin’s stare and see his own legs through the cracks between his fingers, as well as Lupin’s, confirming he was right in from of him and sitting up, just watching him die of embarrassment.

 

“Are you okay?” Lupin finally spoke, in a half-joking but partly concerned tone.

 

“I’m sorry,” he started, “I shouldn’t have-”

 

“Hey, it’s fine.”

 

Jigen lifted his head to look at Lupin, eyes wide with astonishment. The feeling in his chest was as if he was now light as a feather, yet his heart was settled somewhere at the bottom of his stomach.  _ He’s fine with it? _

 

“Really…?”

 

“Yeah, I mean,” Lupin scratched the back of his head, “Fujiko is a professional at running off so I don’t blame you for not catching up to her. To be honest, I don’t really know what you would’ve done if you caught her either way.”

 

_ Oh. _

 

“I’m a hundred years old, I don’t think there was a chance in hell I’d catch her anyway,” Jigen said brushing off the knot in his stomach.  _ I guess he had his eyes closed that whole time,  _ Jigen realized,  _ there’s no way he even knows I was staring at him. I should’ve known he wouldn’t have been “fine” with that, anyway. _

 

“She’ll be back,” Lupin stood up, stretching his arms high into the air, “I need her for my master plan.”

 

“Your  _ ‘master plan’ _ !?” Jigen stood up to avert his attention from Lupin’s stomach back to the conversation at hand, “You’ve been asleep for five minutes!”

 

“I sure was! Now imagine how good my plan would be if I’d have been awake,” he smiled devilishly as he made his way toward the hall to retire to his room and get some well-earned sleep.

 

He didn’t appreciate being left in the dark, in this case literally, but knew Lupin was always like this. Asking him to change would be like asking the sun to go out, both unlikely and not for the best. Lupin was brimming with confidence that had yet to fail him, and Jigen had no reason to think he didn’t have a “master plan” lined up. At the very least, he had the right idea about hitting the hay.

 

Jigen followed suit, walking to his room with an exhausted body and overactive mind. Most people would consider themselves lucky when it came to narrowly avoiding an awkward situation. Lupin had no idea Jigen was watching him, not out of concern for Lupin’s safety but instead fulfilling a selfish romantic desire, and the situation was resolved. No repercussions, no humiliation, no embarrassment, and everything was back to normal. His shoulders relaxed and he readjusted back to the familiar atmosphere of the apartment, but the sickness didn’t leave. The stirring in his stomach reminded him that he was  _ so close _ to being caught and  _ so close _ to being confronted, that he still wondered what he would have done in that scenario had Lupin connected the dots. He passed the doorframe of his room and rubbed his eyes, refusing to admit to himself that he couldn’t risk being selfish anymore.  _ It isn’t worth ruining our friendship _ , Jigen thought,  _ I’m just going to have to let it go. _

 

“Knock, knock,” Lupin’s voice came from the doorway.

 

“Huh? What’s up?” Jigen turned, returning his composure.

 

“I forgot to ask earlier but do you wanna’ go for breakfast tomorrow?”

 

He paused for a moment to consider if he'd heard him right, and acknowledged Lupin pausing for an answer as confirmation.

 

“Sure,” Jigen smiled, “Haven’t done that in a while, huh?”

 

“It hasn’t been just us in a while either,” Lupin waved at him childishly and disappeared around the corner back to his room, “I’ll try not to wake ya’ too early.”

 

“Goodnight, Lupin.”

 

“‘Night!” he replied, already halfway down the hallway.

 

_ What we have right now is fine,  _ he conceded,  _ I don’t need things to change as much as I want them to. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a half-chapter to try and make up for missing the update last week sorry about that this one is kinda corny


	10. The Big Reveal

The master plan followed smoothly with Fujiko on standby, waiting not only as reinforcement, but as their main intel. She knew the most about Greenfeld having been in a relationship with him, keeping tabs on his personal life and the tracker on the police radio. If they wanted to succeed, they needed Fujiko. Goemon infiltrated the security to ensure a quick entrance to catch Greenfeld and his goons off guard. Lupin learned that once a month they’d gather at Greenfeld’s residence to open the vault, filled with their stolen treasure and distribute it amongst themselves. He wasn’t alone in his ploy, and was acquainted with 3 other chiefs from various departments. As it turned out, even the lower caste officers didn’t get a share of the dirty fortune but were usually blackmailed into secrecy at the risk of losing their jobs. This however, as unfair as it was, only made things easier for Lupin’s gang.

Goemon used his Zantetsuken to get them through the small fry that guarded the outside of the building, and Jigen and Lupin handled the crawl spaces that got them through to the core of the operation. They waited patiently for the Greenfeld to make the biggest mistake of his life, opening the vault for the man who would soon be the one to take it all away from him. Lupin signalled for Jigen to wait and with each passing second there was a growing intensity that the pair couldn’t help but live for. They listened closely, the lock on the vault now making mechanical clinging that let them know the fun was just about to begin.

 

_ Click. _

 

In one swift motion, Lupin came down from the ceiling with both legs pointed in a deadly kick to the first chief’s head. Jigen followed suit, gun blazing, taking out the weapons of the other three. Greenfeld stood his ground with some dignity as a man, whereas the other three attempted to flee, and from there met with a certain samurai waiting at the doorway, witnessing their own coward eyes in the reflection of his sword. Jigen pointed his gun firmly toward Greenfeld, and stared at him in a sort of cruel but justified way. He could tell they had the upper-hand, and his face didn’t hide his anger, not unlike Jigen being unable to hide the guilty pleasure of watching the bad guy crumble and fall.

 

“You really think you can-”

 

“Yep!” Lupin interrupted, “In fact, I think I already have, though if you think I haven’t you can try and finish that sentence if you want.”

 

Greenfeld clenched his teeth in fury at the disruption, at how easily he was outnumbered and taken down. A strong silence fell over the pair and Lupin’s smile split the room.

 

“Didn’t think so,” Lupin laughed, “Jigen, tie up his hands. We aren’t done with him yet.”

 

Jigen nodded and caught the duct tape that Lupin had thrown him. Lupin’s jacket seemed to be a ‘bigger on the inside’ situation, including several inner pockets that contained everything from loose ammo to grappling wire to breath spray. With Greenfeld apprehended, Lupin stepped foot into the safe and began the hunt for Grace Kelly’s rings, among other various things that interested him along the way. Of course he was removing everything, but he was always on the lookout for treasures to add to his personal collection. The safe itself was more of a room, the door of the vault being the only entrance in. The inside of the vault was organized like a bunker, somehow making even the most glamorous jewels and antiques look depressing. After looking over the majority of the safe, it seemed it was mostly loose cash, jewellery and small but expensive paintings. After some careful wandering in a certain section lined with jewellery, he spotted the cases, slightly damaged from the accident in the Fiat a few weeks beforehand, and filled with rings. Lupin removed them from the shelf and returned to the opening where Jigen and Greenfeld were waiting. After some analyzing, Jigen noticed a look of distress across Lupin’s face.

 

“Seems you’re missing a few.”

 

“Of course I am! That Fujiko bitch-”

 

Lupin’s hands were brought together and dropped suddenly, both fists clashing against Greenfeld’s head in a gruesome blow. 

 

“I’d prefer if you didn’t slander my colleagues in your current position, Archie-kins.”

 

Greenfeld coughed and Jigen brought him back upright, though not entirely sure where Lupin’s anger was coming from. I mean sure, he destroyed the Fiat, stole the ring boxes from them, almost framed them for murder, called one of his closest friends a bitch…. _ Y’know what, nevermind, _ he shook the thought away,  _ He definitely deserves this. _

 

“I  _ know _ Fujiko has some of them. Eleven of them to be precise. But there’s another one missing,” Lupin explained, “And I’m not leaving without all of  _ my _ rings.”

 

Jigen’s eyes darted to Goemon, who was still across the room keeping an eye on the other chiefs who seemed to give up easily. He was looking back at Jigen with the same confusion.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

 

Lupin grabbed Greenfeld’s face abruptly to look more directly at his eyes.

 

“If you want to play games, I’m more of a poker guy,” Lupin made eye contact with him, “But I’m really not in the mood right now.”

 

“Lupin,” Jigen muttered.

 

“All I want is the other ring," Lupin repeated, giving Greenfeld a deadly stare.

 

“Lupin,” Jigen reiterated, “What ring are you talking about?”

 

“You already forgot!?” Lupin looked up, suddenly breaking his own tough-guy character he’d been playing all along in a fit of shock.

 

“I don’t think you ever told me in the first place!” Jigen pushed back, confused.

 

“Y’know, the uh,” Lupin made some vague hand gestures, “The pretty one, the one with all the colours on it-”

 

“That pretty much describes every ring ever made.”

 

“The opal ring!” Lupin suddenly burst, as if he’d known what it was the whole time, “ _ Your _ ring!”

 

Jigen’s brain connected the two wires together and felt a sudden wave of second-hand embarrassment. He reached slowly into his pocket, the same one he’d been wearing after their last encounter with Greenfeld, and pulled the ring up for Lupin to see. What followed was Lupin’s eyes adjusting to the view of the ring in Jigen’s hand, then immediately flushing red.

 

“O-oh,” Lupin tried laughing it off, “You...had that the whole time…?”

 

“That’s the ring you were talking about!?” Greenfeld yelled, “That wench of yours took that from me before we even got the other boxes out of your junked car-”

 

Lupin rotated with his hand fully stretched to backhand Greenfeld, and his face met Lupin’s hand with a loud smack.

 

“Really?  _ ‘Wench’ _ ? What year is it?” Lupin scolded him like a child.

 

“Lupin, did you not know I had this?”

 

“Clearly I didn’t!” Lupin looked toward Jigen, still blushing a deep red.

 

“Then I guess you owe me an apology considering I didn’t have your stupid ring,” Greenfeld suddenly felt the urge to contribute.

 

“I don’t owe you jack!” Lupin changed direction again, from embarrassed to furious, “You destroyed my car!”

 

Greenfeld rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, hands still duct taped behind him. As easily as Greenfeld relaxed against the wall, Jigen was still tense at this turn of events, with excitement that he gave up on ever feeling after accepting weeks ago he had to let sleeping dogs lie. It took him a long time to learn he loved Lupin, a long time to accept they'd never be an item, and only a couple seconds to remember why he wanted him so bad in the first place.

 

“You mean to tell me you came here, punched a man in the face and threatened his life,” Jigen recounted, “Because you thought he had this ring that Fujiko gave me back weeks ago?”

 

Lupin didn’t have a reply ready for that one and instead scratched at his head and looked toward the ceiling as if the answer was written somewhere on the ornate red and gold ceiling.

 

“Maybe,” he said, brilliantly.

 

Jigen put the ring back on his finger and tried to hold back how hard he wanted to laugh at Lupin. He covered his face as best he could but there was really no hiding how funny this all was, yet how sweet it all seemed beneath the idiotic outcome. Even Goemon, as stoic as he was, turned his head away from Lupin to conceal the grin catching the edge of his mouth. The interruption to their ridicule of Lupin humiliating himself was the sound of sirens.

 

“Oh, what now!?” Lupin yelled into his hands.

 

“I might have called in a friend,” the voice of a femme fatale spoke from the open safe.

 

The open, and now empty, safe.

 

“Huh!?” the trio blurted out simultaneously.

 

“No hard feelings, but I’m taking the loot today! Bye, Lupin!” Fujiko waved and ran for the rope dangling from the ceiling of the vault, leading toward the vent in the roof. Soon after she snaked through the opening, the rope was cut and there was nothing but the soft sound of the rope landing on the ground, sirens from Zenigata's police car growing louder outside and Jigen, Goemon, and Lupin standing in awe at this betrayal, which all of them should be used to but none of them were expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay now the ACTUAL chapter i owe y'all. Sorry for the wait, but hey its the long weekend so *technically* i'm not late haha


	11. Proving A Point

The gang, minus Fujiko, spent no time making their way back to the ducts and with heavy steps, bolted across the rooftop at the earliest access with Zenigata hot on their tail. Naturally, Zenigata was the only thing holding himself back from catching the trio, with his supernatural ability to trip over nothing and get overworked easily. However, nobody compared to him in terms of determination and passion for the job. He stumbled across loose shingles and put up the good fight to try and catch up, but nobody compared to Lupin when it came to masterful getaways. There was an exchange of  _ I’ll get you next time _ ’s and  _ Sure you will _ ’s, and Lupin’s crew was back in the old Mercedes and careening back to the hideout. Maybe they didn’t take the big haul but Fujiko had the decency to leave the rings with them. She was usually not so generous.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Lupin pouted and rested his head in his hand, elbow on the doorframe of the Mercedes.

 

“Yes you can,” Goemon muttered from the back.

 

“Oh shut it.”

 

Jigen sat in the passenger seat and continued to fidget with the opal ring, trying not to overthink it in his head, but still getting twisted up in how badly he wanted to believe Lupin’s true intention. Lupin had the radio blaring to tune out his irritation, but found the diddy playing on the station wasn’t doing it for him. It was some whiny love song that had been copied from another whiny love song, that somehow made number one hit of the year.

 

“At least this time you weren’t trying to give it to Fujiko, anyway,” Goemon sighed, “But I wish you would’ve told me we were there for Jigen.”

 

“W-we weren’t,” Lupin stammered, “That wasn’t the point!”

 

“I see,” Goemon nodded, readily accepting this, “I must have misunderstood.”

 

“The ring, uh…  _ Jigen’s _ ring,” Lupin tried to sound confident through his pushing and pausing, “That was just a coincidence! I only happened to notice it was gone-”

 

“Of course.”

 

“If I’d known Jigen had it the whole time-”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Or maybe if Fujiko had told me she already got it back from-”

 

“Lupin, your face is turning red. You should let Jigen drive.”

 

Jigen kept his chin in his hand, knuckles covering a bit of his mouth in an attempt to look less giddy about Lupin viciously defending himself. The radio station was changed once more to a song directed at a younger crowd than them, loud and almost obnoxious, and Lupin brought his foot down on the peddle of the Mercedes. Anything to get him out of that car faster.

 

“Oh, shut up!”

 

Sliding into the alleyway next to the hideout was no easy task but it seemed Lupin’s sheer amount of agitation improved his driving ability only slightly. Not in the sense that he was better at driving or following the rules of the road, but instead better at just not-crashing. Goemon stepped out of the vehicle, dizzy and rubbing his temples. It wasn’t news that he hated Lupin’s driving but he felt a new level of loathing which caused him to want to cut the Mercedes in half with every fibre of his being, with Lupin in it. Lupin slammed the door and circled around to the metal stairs leading up to the entryway, stopped only by Goemon holding the sharp end of his sword toward Lupin, looking down the blade as if he would be the last thing Lupin ever saw.

 

“I take it you’ll be taking a taxi home next time?” asked abrasively.

 

“Goemon, why don’t you take a walk?” Jigen suggested casually, “Clear your head up a bit.”

 

“I don’t need to-”

 

“Isn’t that one of those samurai things you learn about? ‘Don’t draw your blade so readily’ or something?” Jigen interrupted, “And yet look at you now, drawing it over a shitty car ride.”

 

Goemon seem to tense up at the very mention of his lessons, which he valued so much, and sheathed Zantetsuken quickly. He closed his eyes and turned his head away, bordering dangerously on pouting, and began walking.

 

“I still have so much to learn,” he whispered to himself, yet still loud enough the pair could still hear him. Though, they waited till he had rounded the corner before laughing.

 

When Lupin lifted his head to catch his breath a bit, his eyes caught Jigen once more and he returned to his awkward demeanor, scratching his head and looking around at nothing in particular. Jigen turned toward the stairs and heard from behind him his partner following in suit. He rubbed the ring on his knuckle with his thumb and felt a surge of confidence. Nothing much, but enough to confront Lupin. Not to confess, but to learn a little more.

 

“You wanna smoke on the roof?”

 

“Are you taking me up there to push me off the side?”

 

“That’s on a need-to-know basis.”

 

“I need to know.”

 

“Then I’ll tell you the answer is ‘Maybe’.”

 

Lupin waved his arm at him as if throwing something, every part of him knowing it was a joke, every part of him except for his nerves. They climbed the stairs of the fire escape toward the roof in relative silence interrupted only by well-worn shoes hitting metal stairs. By the time they got to the top, Jigen was starting his second cigarette before Lupin had even pulled out his pack, patting around for a lighter in denial up until Jigen, spinning a lighter in his hand, caught his eye.

 

“Don’t suppose I could get a light?”

 

Jigen sparked the lighter and leaned in toward his friend, who gratefully guarded the glowing flame with his hand, with the cigarette in his mouth now starting to flake from the heat. Lupin took a long drag and Jigen couldn’t help but watch the smoke rise and disappear into the sky in tangles of grey. His sight was brought back down to Lupin, leaning on the edge of the building with his head forward and concentrated on something Jigen couldn’t see. He let his eyes fall toward the same place and the pair smoked like that for a while, in odd-yet-peaceful silence, before Lupin finally spoke.

 

“I know that I made myself look stupid today.”

 

“Stupid isn’t the word I’d use.”

 

“What then? ‘Desperate’, ‘Foolish’, or-?”

 

“‘Trying too hard’,” Jigen corrected, smiling to himself.

 

“Y’know what,” Lupin crushed out his cigarette, “That  _ is  _ a better word.”

 

“I didn’t bring you up here to shame you, you know that, right?”

 

“And I didn’t come up here to defend myself.”

 

“Defend yourself for what exactly?” Jigen asked, genuinely curious.

 

“For…,” Lupin started, kicking up a new cigarette, “For maybe making my intentions a bit too obvious?”

 

“‘ _ Intentions’ _ ?”

 

“I just mean what I did wasn’t something you asked me to do,” Lupin tried to explain, “So if I came off as... _ romantic _ … that wasn’t my intention-!”

 

“Gee, I’ll go burn my wedding dress,” Jigen replied sarcastically, “But if I’m not wrong, you did just say ‘obvious intentions’ and ‘romantic’ in the same breath.”

 

“Fuck off,” Lupin mumbled beneath his own hand, grappled around his face.

 

“Now you’re speaking the language of romance,” Jigen smiled.

 

“Look, I just don’t want things to be weird between us so if you aren’t cool with it then can you just pretend that never even happened?”

 

“And what if I am cool with it?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’m just saying,” Jigen leaned back, grabbing the edge of the wall to keep him supported, “If I were in the market for a guy that busts his knuckles on some low-life over a ring that’s M.I.A., then the guy better be honest and not beat around the bush.”

 

“You’re really gonna’ make me say it?”

“What have you got to lose?”

 

“My confidence, if you say no,” Lupin pointed out.

 

“Hey, who is the luckiest guy you know?”

 

Lupin looked at the words being turned on him so plainly and he knew this was no time to be bashful. As much as he boasted his ease with romance, being tender around other men wasn’t his strong-suit. Jigen knew this, but wanted to push Lupin, just to see how genuine he really was. A strict silence followed, a break from conversation to smoke and gather their thoughts. Jigen looked at Lupin’s furrowed brow and focused eyes, his fingers drumming the layered brick wall preventing them from toppling over the side. At the moment, he could tell Lupin probably wished he really did physically push the thief off the side, and Jigen was embarrassed slightly at the realization his metaphorical push might have made things awkward. By the time Lupin crushed out his cigarette, Jigen expected him to make his way back downstairs, ignoring the question for now or forever, and the conversation dying there. What he did not expect was Lupin abruptly lifting his legs up onto the wall, standing precariously and strictly upright, the only thing separating him from the ground being 30 feet of solid air.

 

“Oi, what the hell are you trying to do-!?”

 

“I’ve done riskier stuff than this before,” Lupin spoke loudly and forward, talking to Jigen but focused fully on the slight breeze trying to prevent his perfect balance, “You know I work better under pressure, anyway.”

 

“‘ _ Work better _ ’...”

 

“Do you remember when we went to the beach together?” this time he was really yelling, as if trying to tune out his own voice, his own embarrassment and childish excitement.

 

“Yeah, of course-” Jigen half held up his hands, as if expecting Lupin to fall back at any moment.

 

“I didn’t actually care that you were wearing a tie,” Lupin lifted his head skyward, still maintaining his volume, which anyone on the street could and would most definitely hear, “I just wanted an excuse.”

 

“An excuse to…?”

 

“Would you think about it for a second, you dope!” Lupin shoved his hands in his pocket and turned on his heels, looking down from the wall at his smoking partner, cigarette barely being kept alive from his distraction, “I wanted to get closer to you!”

 

“H-huh!?”

“I wanted to kiss you! For fuck’s sake!” Lupin’s face was red, and he finally jumped from the wall back onto solid ground, or roof rather, “You said you wanted me to be honest so I’m being honest!”

 

“I just didn’t think you would actually come right out and say it!” Jigen yelled back, “If I’d have known you felt like that for this long, Jesus Christ…”

 

“You woulda’ kissed me?”

 

“That’s not what I said!”

 

Lupin smiled wide, leaning in and tilted Jigen’s hat up slightly to see his face, not hidden and honest as the moment. Jigen rubbed the opal ring on his finger once more in deeper and more complex thought.

 

“But it’s what you meant, wasn’t it?”

 

Jigen stared flatly at Lupin, who stared back expectedly. Without thinking, knowing his thoughts would hold him back now more than ever, he wrapped his arms around Lupin’s neck and leaned in close. What followed was something the both of them had wanted for so long but neither dared speak about til now, and they were glad they finally did. It was brief, realistic to what they thought it would be, and not lingering for longer than it needed to be. At the first separation of their kiss, Lupin snaked his hand to pull his partner back in for seconds, and thirds, till eventually Jigen managed to turn his head and laugh.

 

“I think you made your point.”

 

“No, give me an hour and I’ll have made my point,” Lupin winked.

 

Jigen was about to make a similar cut back, until the ringing of the phone downstairs interrupted their new beginning.

 

“Really, phone!? Right now!?” Lupin yelled at the ground, then hustled toward the fire escape to answer it.

 

Jigen followed suit after, though much slower, not entirely eager to find out who was calling. When he re-entered the hideout he found Lupin with his fingers curled through the wire on their bright yellow novelty banana-phone. It was an impulse buy on Lupin’s part, but you couldn’t argue that it wasn’t cute. He was talking plainly to the person on the other end.

 

“So it’s all fixed then?”

 

A few ‘hm’s and ‘ah’s were exchanged before Lupin hung up the phone.

“The Fiat is finally fixed.”

 

“Took em’ long enough.”

 

“Wanna take it for a joy ride?” Lupin asked, smiling his contagious smile and leaning back on the side table where the phone sat.

 

“You already know the answer to that,” Jigen crushed out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray and followed Lupin out of the door.

 

He flicked the lights off at the hideout before making his way down the stairs again, and catching up with Lupin on the sidewalk. They spotted Goemon on the opposite side after only a few minutes of walking and waved him over, and with that the trio walked through the lively city, bright with lights from neon signs despite the late hour, to reunite with the Fiat. They’d tell Goemon of what happened later, and for now relished quietly in the thought of what was coming next for the both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter lads, sorry if this seemed brief but i think everything at this point is at a close so i don't see anything more to add (esp since its a general rated fic) but yeah I hope you guys liked it (and i'm sorry if you didn't ;_;)


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